Chima Nwokoji

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate moderated slightly to 15.10 per cent in January 2026, down from 15.15 per cent recorded in December 2025, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The marginal decline of 0.05 percentage points suggests a continued easing in price pressures at the start of the year, following several months of gradual slowdown in inflation.

On a year-on-year basis, inflation dropped sharply compared to the same period last year. The NBS said the January 2026 inflation rate was 12.51 percentage points lower than the 27.61 per cent recorded in January 2025, indicating a significant moderation in the pace of rising consumer prices.

The bureau also reported that on a month-on-month basis, headline inflation stood at -2.88 per cent in January 2026, representing a sharp decline from 0.54 per cent recorded in December 2025. This indicates that average prices in the economy fell in the month under review compared to the previous month.

However, despite the positive headline figures, analysts say many Nigerians are yet to feel the impact of easing inflation due to the continued decline in the purchasing power of the naira.

Economic observers note that the steady depreciation of the naira has continued to erode expected gains from falling prices of goods, particularly food items, making daily living conditions difficult for households.

Some analysts warned that a situation where the value of the naira keeps weakening, making lower denominations almost ineffective in daily transactions, could reduce the reported inflation slowdown to what they described as “academic exercises.”

They argued that unless key fundamentals such as domestic production capacity, cost of doing business, electricity supply, logistics costs and access to credit improve, the impact of easing inflation may remain limited for consumers.

The inflation decline comes despite signs of improved food supply conditions, relative stability in the foreign exchange market, and expectations of more stable energy prices, particularly petroleum products.

Meanwhile, the NBS reported that Nigeria’s food inflation rate stood at 8.89 per cent year-on-year in January 2026. The figure represents a sharp moderation compared to the 29.63 per cent recorded in December 2025.

The bureau attributed the decline in food inflation to falling prices of items such as water yam, eggs, green peas, groundnut oil, soya beans, palm oil, maize grains, guinea corn, beans, beef, melon (egusi), cassava tuber and cowpeas.

On a state-by-state basis, the NBS said food inflation was highest year-on-year in Kogi (19.84 per cent), Benue (18.38 per cent), and Adamawa (17.29 per cent), while Ebonyi (1.69 per cent), Abia (3.23 per cent), and Imo (3.74 per cent) recorded the slowest rise.

Analysts say sustaining the decline in inflation will depend largely on currency stability, improved productivity, and stronger infrastructure to support local manufacturing and agriculture.

Copyright © 2026 Nigerian Tribune Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).