Food inflation hits single digit first time in 10 yrs

For the first time in a decade, food inflation hit a single digit of 8.89 percent in January of 2026, in line with projections of analysts polled by BusinessDay. This comes following an import waiver policy on select foods, which eases logistics bottlenecks and a steadier naira after years of sharp price increases that strained household budgets.

The last time Nigeria recorded single-digit food inflation was in May 2015, when the price index stood at 9.78 percent.

The January reading was spearheaded by a monthly decline in prices of water yams, eggs, green peas, groundnut oil, soya beans, palm oil, maize (corn), beans, and other key grains found in Nigerians diet, according to the report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

This led to a month-on-month deflation of 6.02 percent in the period, signalling that Nigerians enjoyed a significant respite in the cost of food prices in January.

“The average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending January 2026 over the previous twelve-month average was 20.29 percent, which was 18.18 percent points lower compared with the average annual rate of change recorded in January 2025 (38.47 percent),” the NBS report read.

BusinessDay had earlier reported that “Economists see food prices cooling further in January 2026 ahead of the official data due on the 15th of February, effectively exiting the double-digit mark.”

“This will align the West African nation with its peers like Kenya and Ghana, which recorded 7.8 percent and 3.9 percent food inflation, respectively in January 2026,” BusinessDay earlier quoted.

Headline inflation sustained its winning streak, cooling further to 15.10 percent.

A breakdown of the data shows that prices of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 6.04 percent year on year, while housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels climbed 1.27 percent, transport rose 1.61 percent, restaurants and accommodation services increased 1.95 percent, and health surged by 0.91 percent.

On a state level, food inflation in the period was highest in Kogi at 19.84 percent, Benue at 18.38 percent, followed by Adamawa at 17.29 percent. While Ebonyi, Abia, and Imo States recorded the lowest rises at 1.69 percent, 3.23 percent, and 3.74 percent, respectively.