Nigeria’s inflation rate increased in March 2026 to 15.38 per cent from 15.1o per cent in February, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Wednesday.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased to 135.4 in March 2026, higher than the 130.0 in the preceding month by 5.4 points. The spike was likely stoked by the US-Israeli war on Iran, that’s pushed up the cost of fuel and has had a ripple effect in other areas.
At 15.38 per cent, the inflation numbers beat expectations of analysts at Meristem Research, which projected that the inflation rate in Nigeria for the month should come in at 13.59 per cent, after the price of crude oil on the global market soared as a result of the war in Iran, with prices of items growing in Nigeria.
The March 2026 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 0.32 per cent compared to the February 2026 headline inflation rate. However, on a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in March 2026 was 4.18 per cent, which was 2.17 per cent higher than the rate recorded in February 2026 at 2.01 per cent.
This means that last month, the rate of increase in the average price level was higher than the rate of increase in the average price level a month earlier.
Food inflation rate in the review month stood at 14.31 per cent on a year-on-year basis versus 25.22 per cent in the same month of last year. However, on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in March 2026 was 4.17 per cent, which is 0.52 per cent lower than the 4.69 per cent achieved in February 2026.
According to the stats office, “This can be attributed to the rate of change in the average prices of the following products: Yam, Ginger (Fresh), Cassava Tuber, Groundnuts (Shelled), Irish Potatoes, Avenger (Ogbono/Apon) – Dried Ungrinded, Tomatoes (fresh), Cassava Flour sold loose, etc.”
The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending March 2026 over the previous twelve-month average was 18.21 per cent, which was 17.81 per cent lower than the average annual rate of change recorded in March 2025 at 36.02 per cent.
On a year-on-year basis, in March 2026, the urban inflation rate was 14.64 per cent, and 3.16 per cent on a month-on-month basis, which is 0.61 per cent higher than the 2.55 per cent in February 2026.
As for the rural inflation rate, it was 17.22 per cent in the month under consideration and on a month-on-month basis, it stood at 6.73 per cent versus 0.71 per cent a month earlier.