Nigeria’s food inflation accelerated sharply in July 2026, increasing pressure on household budgets even as the country’s overall inflation rate moderated.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that food inflation rose 5.56% month-on-month in July, up from 3.75% in June.
The increase represents a 1.81 percentage-point acceleration within one month and points to renewed pressure across several staple and fresh food categories.
NBS attributed the increase to faster price movements in products including rice, garri, fresh pepper, onions, tomatoes, water yam, plantain, beef, eggs, crayfish, carrots, guinea corn, ginger and plantain flour.
On a year-on-year basis, food inflation stood at 20.31% in July, compared with 26.20% in July 2025.
The divergence between monthly and annual food inflation is significant.
While the annual rate remains below the level recorded a year earlier, the sharp month-on-month increase suggests that fresh food-price pressures intensified considerably during July.
The development contrasts with the broader inflation picture.
Headline inflation eased to 15.43% in July from 15.91% in June, while month-on-month headline inflation slowed to 1.57% from 1.66%.
Food and non-alcoholic beverages nevertheless remained the largest contributor to overall inflation, adding 6.18 percentage points to the year-on-year headline index.
That means food continues to account for a substantial share of the inflation burden facing Nigerian consumers despite the moderation in the national headline rate.
The July figures also show that food-price pressure was uneven across the country.
Adamawa recorded the highest year-on-year food inflation at 51.36%, followed by Katsina at 30.84% and Zamfara at 30.65%.
On a month-on-month basis, Adamawa again recorded the highest increase at 17.02%, followed by Lagos at 13.48% and Borno at 13.26%.
At the opposite end, Jigawa, Kebbi and Bauchi recorded month-on-month declines in food prices of 3.68%, 3.67% and 1.85%, respectively.
The stronger monthly food inflation reading suggests that the cost of essential household items remains one of the biggest risks to Nigeria’s disinflation trend.
For consumers, the impact is particularly important because food occupies a significant share of household expenditure, especially among lower-income families.
For policymakers, the July data indicate that headline inflation is easing, but food-price pressures remain capable of slowing or reversing that progress if increases in staple and fresh food prices persist.
The inflation report therefore presents a mixed picture: broader price growth is moderating, but food costs are rising at a much faster monthly pace.
