Nigeria’s headline inflation rate edged lower in June, marking its first monthly decline in three months, but accelerating food prices underscored the persistent cost-of-living pressures confronting households and highlighted the uneven nature of the country’s disinflation process.
Data released on Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed headline inflation eased marginally to 15.91 percent year-on-year in June from 15.93 percent in May. The latest reading was also significantly lower than the 25.29 percent recorded in June 2025, extending the broader moderation in consumer price growth over the past year.
On a month-on-month basis, inflation slowed to 1.66 percent from 1.75 percent in May, indicating that the pace of price increases moderated during the month.
The latest figures show that while underlying inflationary pressures are gradually easing, food prices continue to pose the biggest threat to sustained price stability, with agricultural supply constraints offsetting gains from lower energy costs and improved macroeconomic conditions.
Food inflation accelerated to 17.52 percent year-on-year in June from 16.96 percent in May, while month-on-month food inflation rose sharply to 3.75 percent, compared with 2.98 percent a month earlier.
According to the NBS, the increase was driven by higher prices for key food staples, including crayfish, fresh tomatoes, fresh pepper, yam flour, water yam, beef, bananas, cassava flour, cowpea, garri, Irish potatoes and yam tubers.
The inflation slowdown comes after price pressures accelerated in March following heightened geopolitical tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which pushed global energy prices higher and interrupted nearly a year of easing inflationary trends.
Despite the recent uptick in food prices, headline inflation has remained broadly stable, reflecting the combined impact of lower domestic fuel prices, relative exchange rate stability and moderating core inflation.
The Central Bank of Nigeria had previously indicated that the inflation rebound recorded earlier in the year was likely to prove temporary, with improving macroeconomic conditions expected to support the disinflation process.
Regional disparities in food inflation remained pronounced. On a year-on-year basis, Kogi recorded the highest food inflation rate at 53.02 percent, followed by Niger at 43.83 percent and Benue at 40.83 percent. The slowest annual increases were recorded in Katsina (19.15 percent), Rivers (23.81 percent) and Imo (24.60 percent).
Month-on-month food inflation was highest in Katsina (16.83 percent), Kebbi (9.79 percent) and Niger (8.96 percent), while Benue and Bayelsa recorded month-on-month declines, suggesting improving food price conditions in parts of the country.
