Nigeria’s headline inflation rate slowed for a second consecutive month in August 2026, dropping to 15.39%, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday.
The figure represents a decline from the 15.43% recorded in July 2026, and marks a sharp drop from the 23.14% inflation rate posted in August 2025, underscoring a significant year-on-year improvement in the country’s price environment.
According to the NBS, the August reading reflects a 0.04 percentage point decrease compared to the previous month’s figure, continuing a gradual disinflation trend that has offered some relief to households and businesses grappling with the cost of living.
On a month-on-month basis, the report showed even more pronounced easing. Prices rose by 0.71% in August, a notable slowdown from the 1.57% recorded in July — a decline of 0.86 percentage points.
“This means that in August 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in July 2026,” the NBS stated in its report.
The continued moderation in both the headline and month-on-month figures suggests that inflationary pressures in Africa’s most populous nation are gradually stabilizing, though the rate remains elevated by historical standards. Analysts and policymakers will be watching closely to see whether the trend holds in the coming months as the Central Bank of Nigeria continues to calibrate its monetary policy stance.
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