• Severe in Yobe, Anambra, Sokoto, others
James Emejo in Abuja
The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which measures the rate of change in prices of goods and commodities, increased further to 15.93 per cent in May, compared to 15.69 per cent in April, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said yesterday.
The latest increase marks the third consecutive rise in inflation after a prolonged period of disinflation, suggesting that underlying price pressures in the economy remains persistent, despite recent moderation in monthly price movements.
According to the CPI report, for the review period, month-on-month, headline inflation eased to 1.75 per cent in May, from 2.13 per cent in the preceding month, indicating that although prices continued to rise, the pace of increase slowed compared to April.
Average annual rate of headline inflation for the 12 months ending May 2026 stood at 18.36 per cent, representing a significant decline compared to 30.57 per cent recorded in the corresponding period of 2025.
Food inflation, a major driver of household spending, stood at 16.96 per cent year-on-year in May compared to 24.55 per cent in May 2025.
NBS attributed the movement in food prices to changes in the average prices of onions, maize grains, melon (egusi), water yam, cassava flour, crayfish, fresh pepper, tomatoes, wheat grain, cassava tuber, yam tuber, sweet potatoes, fresh ginger, plantain and cowpea, among others.
Month-on-month, food inflation moderated to 2.98 per cent, from 3.63 per cent recorded in April, reflecting slower increases in food prices during the review period.
The average annual rate of food inflation for the 12 months ending May 2026 stood at 16.99 per cent, compared to 33.21 per cent recorded in May 2025.
Similarly, core inflation, which excludes the prices of volatile agricultural produce and energy, stood at 16.82 per cent year-on-year in May, compared to 24.92 per cent in the corresponding month of last year.
On a month-on-month basis, however, core inflation accelerated to 1.94 per cent, from 1.03 per cent in April, suggesting renewed pressure from non-food components of the inflation basket.
The average 12-month core inflation rate stood at 19.59 per cent, lower than the 27.05 per cent recorded in May 2025.
Urban inflation stood at 16.07 per cent year-on-year in May, while month-on-month urban inflation rose slightly to 1.99 per cent from 1.86 per cent in April.
The average annual urban inflation rate for the 12 months ending May 2026 was 18.27 per cent, compared to 32.55 per cent recorded a year earlier.
Similarly, rural inflation stood at 15.60 per cent year-on-year in May. Month-on-month, the rural index slowed considerably to 1.17 per cent from 2.80 per cent recorded in April.
The average annual rural inflation rate for the 12-month period ended May 2026 was 18.19 per cent, lower than the 28.36 per cent reported in May 2025.
At the state level, year-on-year headline inflation was highest in Yobe at 24.94 per cent, followed by Anambra 23.29 per cent and Sokoto 22.60 per cent.
However, Niger recorded the lowest headline inflation rate at 3.07 per cent, followed by Plateau 7.10 per cent, and Edo 7.73 per cent.
Month-on-month, the highest increases in headline inflation were recorded in Benue at 8.23 per cent, Bayelsa 7.62 per cent, and Borno 7.29 per cent, while Niger recorded -4.55 per cent, and Zamfara and Taraba posted -3.36 per cent and -2.67 per cent, respectively.
Food inflation, year-on-year, was highest in Adamawa 29.62 per cent, followed by Kwara 28.47 per cent, and Rivers 28.40 per cent.
Borno recorded a food inflation rate of negative 6.53 per cent, while Taraba and Bayelsa posted the slowest increases at 1.13 per cent and 5.99 per cent, respectively.
Month-on-month, food inflation was highest in Bauchi at 7.73 per cent, Ogun 6.86 per cent and Jigawa 6.69 per cent.
However, Niger recorded the slowest rise in food prices at -3.54 per cent, while Katsina and Gombe also posted -3.48 per cent and -2.22 per cent, respectively.
