Nigerians are feeling a renewed squeeze on their wallets as headline inflation nudged upward to 15.38% in March 2026, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
The figure represents a modest climb from the 15.06% recorded in February, signaling a persistent, albeit slow, upward trajectory in the cost of goods and services across the federation.
While the year-on-year headline figure showed a slight uptick, the month-on-month data tells a more urgent story. Prices jumped by 4.18% between February and March, more than double the monthly increase seen in the previous period.
The divergence between urban and rural experiences remains stark:
Urban Inflation: Settled at 14.64% year-on-year.
Rural Inflation: Surged to 17.22%, with a massive month-on-month spike of 6.73% (up from a negligible 0.71% in February).
This suggests that while city dwellers are facing price hikes, the brunt of the inflationary pressure is currently being felt in the country’s hinterlands.
In a rare glimmer of relative relief, food inflation stood at 14.31% year-on-year, a significant cooling compared to the staggering 25.22% recorded in March 2025.
Every month, food prices actually slowed down slightly, dropping from a 4.69% growth rate in February to 4.17% in March. The NBS attributed this deceleration to price stabilization in several staple items, including:
Tubers: Yam, cassava, and Irish potatoes.
Produce: Fresh Tomatoes and Ginger.
Legumes: Shelled Groundnuts and Ogbono.
“The drop in the monthly food inflation rate is a vital cushion for households, though the average annual food inflation still sits at a high 18.21%,” the report noted.
The “core” inflation rate, which strips out volatile agricultural produce and energy costs, stood at 16.21%. While this is a dramatic improvement from the 27.12% seen a year ago, the month-on-month core index saw a sharp rise of 3.14% points, suggesting that non-food items are becoming more expensive as transportation and manufacturing costs likely fluctuate.
The report highlights a massive disparity in how inflation is hitting different parts of the country.
Headline Inflation State Rankings (Year-on-Year): Bayelsa 27.37%, Osun 5.25%, Sokoto 26.03%, Kano 9.85%, Bauchi 23.67%, and Kaduna 10.38%.
In the north, Zamfara and Sokoto are battling the fastest monthly price increases, while coastal economic hubs like Lagos and Rivers recorded some of the lowest monthly rises, providing a small measure of stability for the nation’s commercial nerve centers.
As the twelve-month average inflation rate hovers at 20.05%, policymakers at the Central Bank will be watching these figures closely. While the dramatic spikes of 2025 seem to have abated, the 0.32% climb in the headline rate proves that the battle against the high cost of living in Nigeria is far from over.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Nigeria’s headline inflation nudged upward to 15.38% in March 2026, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Rural communities are currently facing significantly higher price pressures (17.22%) and sharper monthly spikes than urban centers, even as a slowdown in staple food prices provides a minor, necessary cushion for household budgets nationwide.
