Food inflation rises to 12.12% amid renewed price pressures

Nigeria’s annual food inflation rate increased to 12.2 per cent in February, up from 8.89 per cent in January, signalling renewed pressure on household food costs.

In its Consumer Price Index report for February, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday stated that the rise was driven by higher prices of beans, yam flour, cassava tuber, crayfish and other food items.

Monthly food inflation also reversed a two-month decline, rising to 4.69 per cent in February from -6.02 per cent in January.

The headline inflation rate eased slightly to 15.06 per cent in February 2026, compared to 15.10 per cent recorded in January.

The report noted that the February 2026 headline inflation rate decreased by 0.04 per cent relative to January 2026.

On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 11.21 per cent lower than the rate recorded in February 2025, which stood at 26.27 per cent.

This indicates that the headline inflation rate declined in February 2026 compared to the same period in the previous year.

On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in February 2026 stood at 2.01 per cent, representing a 4.89 per cent increase compared to January 2026, which recorded -2.88 per cent.

This shows that in February 2026, the rate of increase in the average price level was higher than that recorded in January 2026.

The development followed rising global crude oil prices. Oil prices moved higher on Tuesday as several countries resisted Donald Trump’s call to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, while Iran continued targeting crude-producing neighbours.

Brent crude rose by 3.67 per cent at 7:39am WAT on Tuesday to $103.39 per barrel, up from a previous close of $100.21.

food inflation

The food inflation rate in February 2026 stood at 12.12 per cent on a year-on-year basis, which was 14.86 percentage points lower than the 26.98 per cent recorded in February 2025.

However, on a month-on-month basis, food inflation rose to 4.69 per cent in February 2026, marking an increase of 10.70 per cent compared to January 2026 (-6.02 per cent).

The increase was attributed to rising average prices of beans, carrots, okazi leaf, cassava tuber, crayfish, millet flour, yam flour, snails, avenger (Ogbono/Apon) – dried ungrinded, cow peas and others.

The average annual rate of food inflation for the 12 months ending February 2026 was 19.08 per cent, which was 18.31 percentage points lower than the 37.40 per cent recorded in February 2025.

states inflation

The NBS report also showed that Kogi State recorded the highest headline and food inflation rates of 23.57 per cent and 26.91 per cent respectively in February.

The report stated: “In February 2026, the All-Items inflation rate on a Year-on-Year basis was highest in Kogi (23.57%), Benue (22.85%), and Anambra (22.09%), while Katsina (7.78%), Imo (11.66%), and Ebonyi (11.71%) recorded the lowest rise in headline inflation on a Year-on-Year basis.

On a Month on-Month basis, however, February 2026 recorded the highest increases in Enugu (5.92%), Ogun (4.39%), and Anambra (4.11%), while Zamfara (-2.14%), Bauchi (-1.23%), and Katsina (-1.06%) recorded a decline in the Month-on-Month inflation.

Food inflation on a Year-on-Year basis was highest in Kogi (26.91%), Adamawa (23.12%), and Benue (21.89%), while Katsina (5.09%), Bauchi (7.09%), and Imo (7.65%) recorded the slowest rise in Food inflation on a Year-on-Year basis. On a Month-on-Month basis, however, February 2026 Food inflation was highest in Bayelsa (8.81%), Ebonyi (8.51%), and Edo (7.72%), while it was lowest in Katsina (-0.70%).