19 states, FCT record inflation above 30% despite national decline

Despite a marginal decline in Nigeria’s headline inflation rate in June 2026, 19 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) recorded annual inflation above 30 per cent, highlighting persistent price pressures across much of the country.

The latest Consumer Price Index released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that headline inflation eased slightly to 15.91 per cent in June from 15.93 per cent recorded in May.

However, an analysis of the state-by-state data showed that 19 states and the FCT—representing 20 of Nigeria’s 37 sub-national entities—recorded annual all-items inflation above 30 per cent during the month.

Niger recorded the highest annual inflation rate at 42.23 per cent, followed by Kogi with 41.59 per cent and the FCT with 39.91 per cent.

At the other end of the scale, Imo recorded the lowest annual inflation rate at 19.47 per cent, followed by Ebonyi at 20.79 per cent and Katsina at 21.87 per cent.

Other states with inflation above 30 per cent were Kwara, Plateau, Sokoto, Benue, Osun, Yobe, Kebbi, Enugu, Bauchi, Gombe, Oyo, Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Ekiti, Taraba and Abia.

The NBS, however, cautioned against using the figures for direct interstate price comparisons, noting that consumer spending patterns and the weighting assigned to goods and services differ across states.

The report also showed that food inflation remained significantly higher in many states than the national average.

Kogi recorded the highest annual food inflation at 53.02 per cent, followed by Niger at 43.83 per cent and Benue at 40.83 per cent.

The FCT and 20 other states also posted annual food inflation above 30 per cent.

By contrast, Katsina recorded the lowest annual food inflation rate at 19.15 per cent, followed by Rivers at 23.81 per cent and Imo at 24.60 per cent.

Nationally, food inflation stood at 17.52 per cent year-on-year in June, compared with 25.41 per cent in the corresponding period of 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, however, food inflation accelerated to 3.75 per cent from 2.98 per cent in May, driven by increases in the prices of food items including tomatoes, fresh pepper, crayfish, beef, garri, cowpea, cassava flour and yam tubers.

The state-level data also showed varying monthly price movements.

Niger recorded the highest month-on-month headline inflation at 11.65 per cent, while Bayelsa posted the largest monthly decline at -6.48 per cent.

For food inflation, Katsina recorded the highest month-on-month increase at 16.82 per cent, while Borno recorded the largest monthly decline at -3.54 per cent.

Commenting on the figures, the Chief Executive Officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr. Muda Yusuf, said the report suggested relative stability in headline inflation but warned that rising food prices remained the biggest challenge facing households.

According to him, the increase in both year-on-year and month-on-month food inflation indicates that food prices have resumed an upward trend after a brief period of moderation.

Yusuf attributed the persistent inflationary pressure to structural factors, including insecurity, high transportation and logistics costs, rising energy and fertiliser prices, supply chain disruptions and imported inflation.

He said the June figures did not justify further monetary policy tightening by the Central Bank of Nigeria, urging the government instead to focus on structural reforms that would boost food production, improve logistics, reduce production costs and strengthen productivity across the economy.