Nigeria’s inflation rate ticked up to 15.69% in April 2026, driven by higher costs for food, transport, hospitality, and healthcare.
The National Bureau of Statistics said headline inflation rose from 15.38% in March, pushing the Consumer Price Index to 138.3 from 135.4.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages remained the biggest driver, accounting for 6.40 percentage points of the annual rate. Restaurants and hotels added 3.56 points, transport 1.70 points, and healthcare 1.21 points. Housing, electricity, education, and clothing also contributed.
Food inflation hit 16.06% year-on-year, with staples like millet, yam flour, ginger, beef, garri, pepper, tomatoes, beans, and plantain leading the surge. Month-on-month food inflation eased slightly to 3.63% from 4.17% in March.
Core inflation, which strips out farm produce and energy, stood at 15.86% annually. Services inflation was higher at 16.7% year-on-year.
There’s a silver lining on monthly trends: headline month-on-month inflation slowed sharply to 2.13% in April from 4.18% in March. Core monthly inflation also dropped to 1.03% from 4.03%.
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State-level data showed wide variation. Sokoto had the highest annual inflation at 25.74%, followed by Bauchi and Zamfara. Edo, Borno, and Jigawa saw the slowest rises. Enugu posted the fastest food inflation, while Borno recorded the slowest.
The April figure came in slightly below the 16.42% projection from the Financial Market Dealers Association, even as food and energy prices kept pressure on households.
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