Nigeria’s food inflation rate rose to 20.31% year-on-year in July 2026, reaching its highest level since September 2025 despite a further decline in the country’s headline inflation rate.
The latest figure was contained in the Consumer Price Index report released by the National Bureau of Statistics, which showed that headline inflation declined to 15.43% in July from 15.91% in June.
The sharp increase in food inflation highlights renewed pressure on household budgets as food prices continue to rise despite government measures aimed at easing the cost-of-living crisis.
Food inflation stood at 17.52% in June before accelerating to 20.31% in July. The July rate was the highest recorded since September 2025, when food inflation stood at 20.16%.
Food inflation had declined significantly towards the end of 2025, falling to 16.30% in October and 14.21% in November. It dropped further to 10.84% in December and reached 8.89% in January 2026 before beginning to rise again.
The rate increased to 12.21% in February, 14.31% in March, 16.06% in April and 16.96% in May, before rising to 17.52% in June and 20.31% in July.
The latest increase means the moderation recorded in overall inflation has not translated into similar relief for food prices.
The development comes as the Federal Government continues to implement fiscal and agricultural measures aimed at addressing rising food costs and broader cost-of-living pressures.
Earlier in July, the government commenced reductions in import duties on essential goods, including food staples and passenger vehicles, under the 2026 Fiscal Policy Measures approved by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele.
The measures represent a significant overhaul of Nigeria’s tariff regime and are intended to reduce the cost of essential imports and support economic activity.
However, Nigeria’s food and beverage imports stood at N1.393 trillion between January and March 2026, according to the latest trade data from the NBS. This was lower than the N1.671 trillion recorded in the corresponding period of 2025, representing a decline of about 16.7%.
While headline inflation fell by 0.48 percentage points to 15.43% in July, the increase in food inflation points to continued supply and pricing pressures within the food market.
Urban inflation stood at 16.12% year-on-year in July, while urban month-on-month inflation declined to 1.90% from 2.13% in June.
The urban month-on-month rate therefore fell by 0.23 percentage points during the month, while the corresponding 12-month average urban inflation rate stood at 16.81%.
The 12-month average was 13.93 percentage points lower than the 30.74% recorded in July 2025.
Rural inflation stood at 13.77% year-on-year in July, below the urban rate.
However, rural month-on-month inflation increased to 0.78% in July from 0.52% in June, representing a 0.25 percentage-point increase.
The corresponding 12-month average rural inflation rate stood at 16.72%, which was 10.33 percentage points lower than the 27.05% recorded in July 2025.
The divergence between headline and food inflation underscores the uneven nature of Nigeria’s inflationary pressures, with food costs continuing to weigh heavily on households despite moderation in the broader inflation rate.
The government has previously introduced measures aimed at reducing food prices and improving supply.
In June 2024, President Bola Tinubu ordered a six-month suspension of import duties on staple food items, pharmaceuticals and other essential goods as part of efforts to ease inflation.
The Central Bank of Nigeria also reported that Nigeria spent $2.34 billion on food imports in 2025, highlighting the country’s continued reliance on imported food products to supplement domestic supply.
More recently, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, unveiled the National Agricultural Mechanisation Policy and National Agricultural Mechanisation Investment Strategy.
The strategy is designed to establish a commercially viable mechanisation ecosystem and boost agricultural productivity.
It includes plans for a mega tractor assembly plant capable of producing between 2,000 and 4,000 tractors annually as the government seeks to improve farm productivity, strengthen domestic food production and advance food security.
Despite these interventions, the July food inflation figure shows that containing food prices remains a major challenge for policymakers, particularly as households continue to face elevated living costs.
