By Anthony Otaru, Abuja
The figure represents a 0.04 percentage point decline from the 15.10 per cent recorded in January 2026 and a sharp drop from 26.27 per cent reported in February 2025, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the statistics agency.
Statistician-General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer of the NBS, Adeyemi Adeniran, announced the figures in Abuja, noting that the latest report reflects the agency’s recently completed CPI rebasing exercise.
“The NBS is pleased to announce the release of the latest Consumer Price Index figures for February 2026 following the completion of the recent rebasing exercise,” Adeniran said.
He explained that the CPI is now anchored to a new base year of 2024 and a weight reference period of 2023, adding that the index declined to 130.40 in February 2026, up 2.6 points from the preceding month.
“This report is centred on a new CPI base year of 2024 and a weight reference period of 2023,” he said.
According to the NBS, food inflation stood at 12.12 per cent year-on-year in February, reflecting continued pressure on household spending, although the rate remained significantly below last year’s levels.
“On a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in February 2026 was –4.69 per cent, up by 10.70 per cent compared to January 2026,” Adeniran stated.
The NBS attributed the changes in food prices to fluctuations in the average prices of key staples such as beans, cassava tuber, crayfish, millet flour, yam flour and dried cowpeas.
At the divisional level, the agency said the largest contributors to headline inflation were food and non-alcoholic beverages (6.03 per cent), restaurants and accommodation services (1.98 per cent), and transport (1.61 per cent).
Other components such as recreation, sports and culture (0.05 per cent), alcoholic beverages (0.06 per cent) and insurance and financial services (0.07 per cent) made the least contribution to overall inflation during the period.
Meanwhile, core inflation, which excludes volatile agricultural produce and energy prices, rose to 15.88 per cent year-on-year in February 2026, highlighting persistent underlying price pressures across the economy.
“On a month-on-month basis, the core inflation rate was 0.89 per cent in February 2026, up by 2.58 per cent compared to January 2026,” Adeniran said.
Economists say the latest inflation data could influence upcoming monetary policy decisions as authorities continue efforts to stabilise prices and sustain economic recovery.
