Nigeria’s headline inflation rate recorded a slight decline in June 2026, but millions of Nigerians are still struggling with high prices, especially in many states where inflation remains above 30 percent.
According to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the country’s headline inflation rate dropped slightly from 15.93 percent in May to 15.91 percent in June. While this shows a small improvement at the national level, inflation remains much higher across several states.
Data from the report revealed that 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) recorded annual inflation rates above 30 percent. This means that more than half of Nigeria’s 37 sub-national regions continue to experience severe increases in the prices of goods and services.
Niger State recorded the highest inflation rate at 42.23 percent, followed by Kogi State with 41.59 percent, while the FCT came third at 39.91 percent. Other states with inflation above 30 percent include Kwara, Plateau, Sokoto, Benue, Osun, Yobe, Kebbi, Enugu, Bauchi, Gombe, Oyo, Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Ekiti, Taraba and Abia.
On the other hand, Imo State recorded the lowest inflation rate in the country at 19.47 percent. Ebonyi and Katsina followed with 20.79 percent and 21.87 percent, respectively. Although these states had the lowest figures, their inflation rates were still higher than the national average.
The NBS advised that inflation figures should not be used to directly compare states because spending habits and the importance of different goods and services vary across the country.
Food prices remain one of the biggest challenges for Nigerians. Kogi State recorded the highest annual food inflation rate at 53.02 percent, followed by Niger State at 43.83 percent and Benue State at 40.83 percent. The FCT and several other states also recorded food inflation above 30 percent.
At the lower end, Katsina State had the lowest annual food inflation rate at 19.15 percent, followed by Rivers and Imo states.
Nationally, food inflation stood at 17.52 percent in June. However, on a month-to-month basis, food inflation increased from 2.98 percent in May to 3.75 percent in June. The increase was linked to higher prices of food items such as tomatoes, fresh pepper, crayfish, beef, bananas, yam, garri, cassava flour, cowpea and Irish potatoes.
Monthly inflation figures also varied across states. Niger recorded the highest monthly increase in overall inflation, while Bayelsa experienced the biggest decline. For food inflation, Katsina recorded the largest monthly increase, whereas Borno, Benue and Bayelsa recorded declines.
Speaking on the latest figures, the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, Dr. Muda Yusuf, said the slight drop in headline inflation shows that prices are becoming more stable. However, he warned that rising food prices remain the biggest concern for Nigerian families.
According to him, food inflation continues to reduce household purchasing power, increase poverty and worsen food insecurity. He explained that the main causes of inflation are structural issues such as insecurity, expensive transportation, high energy costs, rising fertiliser prices, supply chain challenges and imported inflation.
Dr. Yusuf also said the latest figures do not support another interest rate increase by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Instead, he urged the government to focus on improving food production, reducing production and transport costs, strengthening local refining and boosting productivity to ease the cost of living across the country.
Although the national inflation rate has fallen slightly, the latest report shows that many Nigerians are still battling rising prices, especially for food, making the cost-of-living challenge far from over.
