Nigeria: Headline inflation rate rises to 15.38% in March

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate rose to 15.38 percent in March 2026, up from 15.06 percent recorded in February, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The report showed that the CPI increased to 135.4 in March 2026, representing a 5.4-point rise from 130.0 recorded in the preceding month, reflecting sustained pressure on consumer prices across the economy. On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate, however, declined significantly from 27.35 percent recorded in March 2025. The NBS noted that the March 2026 headline inflation rate rose by 0.32 percentage points compared to February 2026. On a month-on-month basis, inflation climbed to 4.18 percent in March, representing a 2.17 percentage point increase from 2.01 percent recorded in February. This indicates a faster pace in the rise of average price levels compared to the previous month. The report further showed that food inflation ...