The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says Nigeria’s headline inflation rate
rose to 15.93 per cent in May.
The NBS disclosed this in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Inflation Report
for May released in Abuja on Monday.
The report said that the May headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.24
per cent compared to the April headline inflation rate of 15.69 per cent.
Furthermore, the report said on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation
rate in May was 1.75 per cent, which was 0.39 per cent lower than the rate
recorded in April at 2.13 per cent.
“This means that in May, the rate of increase in the average price level was
lower than the rate of increase in the average price level in April.”
It said on a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate for May 2026 stood at
15.93 per cent, compared to the 26.06 per cent recorded in May 2025.”
It listed the three major contributors to the headline inflation year- on- year as
food and non-alcoholic beverages at 6.38 per cent, restaurants and
accommodation services at 2.06 per cent, and transport at 1.70 per cent.
The report said that the least contributors were recreation, sports, and culture at
0.05 per cent, alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and narcotics at 0.06 per cent, and
insurance and financial services at 0.07 per cent.
It said that the CPI increased to 140.7 in May 2026, and reflected a 2.4 -point
increase from the 138.3 recorded in April.
The report said the food inflation rate in May 2026 was 16.96 per cent on a
year-on-year basis, compared to the rate recorded in May 2025 at 24.55 per
cent.
It said that on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in May was 2.98
per cent, which decreased by 0.65 per cent compared to the 3.63 per cent
recorded in April.
The NBS highlighted the rate of change in the average prices of fresh onions,
maize(corn), grains, melon(egusi), water yam, cassava flour, crayfish and fresh
pepper.
“Others are fresh tomatoes, wheat grain, cassava tuber, yam,tuber, sweet
potatoes, fresh ginger, plantain, cowpea, among others.”
The report said “All items less farm produces and energy” or core inflation,
which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at
16.82 per cent in May. on a year-on-year basis.
“This shows a decline of 8.1 per cent when compared to the 24.92 per cent
recorded in May 2025.
“On a month-on-month basis, the core inflation rate was 1.94 per cent in May
which increased by 0.92 per cent compared to the 1.03 per cent recorded in
April.”
The report said that the inflation rate of the sub-indices for May 2026 on a
month-on-month basis showed that energy stood at 0.72 per cent compared to
8.0 per cent in April.
It said farm produce stood at 0.86 per cent compared to 6.0 per cent in April,
while services stood at 2.48 per cent compared to the 2.1 per cent recorded in
April.
Goods stood at 0.73 per cent compared to the 3.2 per cent recorded in April,
while imported food stood at 2.28 per cent compared to the 4.4 per cent
recorded in April.
It said that on a year-on-year basis in May 2026, the urban inflation rate was
16.07 per cent.
“On a month-on-month basis, the urban inflation rate was 1.99 per cent, which
increased by 0.13 per cent compared to April at 1.86 per cent.”
The report said that in May, rural inflation rate was 15.60 per cent on a year-on-
year basis.
“On a month-on-month basis, the rural inflation rate was 1.17 per cent, which
decreased by 1.63 per cent compared to April at 2.80 per cent.”