MON FEB 16 2026-theGBJournal| Nigeria’s headline inflation rate has slowed in January 2026, according to latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) raising fresh hopes that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) may consider easing monetary policy at its next Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.
The moderation in price pressures offers a potential turning point for Africa’s largest economy, where businesses and households have grappled with high borrowing costs amid aggressive rate hikes.
Analysts say the cooling trend could give policymakers room to weigh a rate cut aimed at stimulating growth while keeping inflation expectations in check.
Nigeria’s headline inflation moderated by 5bps to 15.10% y/y in January (December: 15.15% y/y).
More notably, on a month-on-month basis, consumer prices contracted by 2.88%, a sharp reversal from the 0.54% increase recorded in December.
Food inflation moderated by 195bps to 8.89% y/y in January (December: 10.84% y/y). On a month-on-month basis, the food index fell by -6.02% (December: -0.36% m/m), due to the rate of decrease in the average prices of Water Yam, Eggs, Green Peas, Groundnut Oil, Soya Beans, Palm Oil, Maize (Corn) Grains, Guinea Corn, Beans, Beef Meat, Melon (Egusi) Unshelled, Cassava Tuber, Cow Peas (White) etc.
At the same time, core inflation (all items excluding farm produce and energy) eased by 91bps to 17.72% y/y in January (December: 18.63% y/y). On a month-on-month basis, the core index declined by 1.69% (December: +0.58% m/m).
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