Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has announced that the country’s headline inflation rate rose to 15.93% in May, up from 15.69% in April this year.
According to the latest edition of the consumer price index (CPI) report released on Monday by the NBS, this is the third consecutive rise in the inflation rate in 2026.
The NBS stated that the headline inflation rose on a year-on-year basis to 15.93% in May, up from 15.69% in April 2026 and down from 26.06% recorded in May 2025.
“Looking at the movement, the May 2026 Headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.24% compared to the April 2026 Headline inflation rate.
“In May 2026, the headline inflation rate on a month-on-month basis was 1.75%, which was 0.39% lower than the rate recorded in April 2026 (2.13%).
“This means that in May 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in April 2026,” the NBS said.
The report added that food inflation rose to 16.96 per cent in May as against 16.68 per cent in April.
“The food inflation rate in May 2026 on a month-on-month basis was 2.98%, down by 0.65% points from April 2026 (3.63%).
“This can be attributed to the rate of change in the average prices of the following products: Onions (fresh), Maize (Corn) grains, Melon (Egusi), Water Yam, Cassava Flour, Crayfish, Pepper (fresh), Tomatoes (fresh), Wheat Grain, Cassava Tuber, Yam Tuber, Sweet Potatoes, Ginger (fresh), Plantain, Cow Pea, etc,” the report added.
GIK/APA