(Nigeria Inflation. Photo by Nigeria News Headlines)
According to the most recent Consumer Price Index report published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) continued to post annual inflation rates above 30% despite a minor drop in Nigeria’s headline inflation rate in June 2026.
According to the NBS, headline inflation in the nation decreased slightly from 15.93 percent in May to 15.91 percent in June. State-by-state data, however, revealed that the FCT and more than half of Nigeria’s 36 states continued to experience far higher inflationary pressures.Niger State recorded the highest annual inflation rate at 42.23 per cent, followed by Kogi at 41.59 per cent and the FCT at 39.91 per cent.
Other states with inflation above 30 per cent included Kwara (36.52%), Plateau (35.82%), Sokoto (35.22%), Benue (35.06%), Osun (34.46%), Yobe (34.40%), Kebbi (34.07%), Enugu (34.00%), Bauchi (33.68%), Gombe (33.51%), Oyo (32.81%), Lagos (32.28%), Akwa Ibom (31.85%), Adamawa (31.82%), Ekiti (31.00%), Taraba (30.54%) and Abia (30.28%).
By contrast, Imo posted the lowest annual inflation rate at 19.47 per cent, followed by Ebonyi (20.79%) and Katsina (21.87%).
The NBS cautioned that state inflation figures should not be used for direct price comparisons, since consumer spending patterns and the weighting of goods and services vary across states.
Food inflation also remained elevated in many parts of the country, with Kogi recording the highest annual food inflation at 53.02 per cent, followed by Niger (43.83%) and Benue (40.83%).
The FCT recorded food inflation of 40.20 per cent, while Adamawa, Osun, Kwara, Kebbi, Sokoto, Plateau, Yobe, Enugu, Gombe, Kaduna, Bayelsa, Jigawa, Ekiti, Akwa Ibom, Edo, Bauchi, Zamfara, Delta, Nasarawa, Cross River and Oyo all posted food inflation above 30 per cent. Katsina recorded the lowest annual food inflation rate at 19.15 per cent, followed by Rivers (23.81%) and Imo (24.60%).
Nationally, food inflation stood at 17.52 per cent year-on-year in June, up slightly from 17.43 per cent in May, while on a month-on-month basis, food inflation rose to 3.75 per cent from 2.98 per cent, driven by increases in the prices of tomatoes, fresh pepper, beef, yam products, garri, cowpea, crayfish and other staple foods.
The report also showed varying monthly inflation movements across states, with Niger recording the highest month-on-month headline inflation at 11.65 per cent, followed by Katsina (8.13%), Kwara (7.52%), Gombe (7.09%), Kebbi (6.99%), Plateau (6.53%) and Lagos (6.37%).
Meanwhile, Bayelsa recorded the sharpest monthly decline in headline inflation at -6.48 per cent, followed by Benue (-5.58%), Cross River (-5.12%), Borno (-4.37%) and Anambra (-4.17%).
Commenting on the figures, the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr Muda Yusuf, said the report suggested headline inflation was stabilising, though he warned that rising food prices remained a major concern, noting that food inflation continues to drive the country’s cost-of-living crisis, eroding household purchasing power and worsening poverty.
According to Yusuf, the persistent inflationary pressure is largely driven by structural factors, including insecurity, high transportation and energy costs, expensive fertiliser, supply chain disruptions and imported inflation.
He argued that the latest figures do not justify further monetary tightening by the Central Bank of Nigeria, urging the government instead to focus on structural reforms that would boost food production, improve logistics, lower production costs, and strengthen domestic refining and productivity.