Even with this recent moderation, the longer-term inflation trajectory continues to be notably high.
The shift in the average Consumer Price Index across the 12 months concluding in January 2026 came in at 21.97%, relative to the earlier 12-month span.
This marks an elevation of 4.37 percentage points above the 17.59% noted for January 2025, underscoring that persistent cost escalations throughout the last year are still considerable.
Food price increases, which constitute the primary expense category for families, experienced a dramatic slowdown in January, offering substantial respite to buyers.
Annually, food inflation registered at 8.89%, reflecting a sharp plunge of 20.73 percentage points below the 29.63% from January 2025.
From one month to the next, food costs shrank to -6.02%, versus the -0.36% in December 2025, indicating a further dip of 5.66 percentage points.
The NBS linked this softening to reduced average costs for key essentials such as water yam, eggs, green peas, groundnut oil, soya beans, palm oil, maize grains, guinea corn, beans, beef, melon (egusi), cassava tubers, and cowpeas.
Over the 12-month period wrapping up in January 2026, the average food inflation rate was 20.29%, a marked reduction from the 38.47% seen in January 2025, demonstrating a consistent alleviation of food cost burdens during the past year.
In contrast, core inflation—stripping out fluctuating farm products and energy expenses—came in at 17.72% on an annual basis for January 2026, a decrease of 7.55 percentage points from the 25.27% in January 2025.
Month-to-month, core inflation receded to -1.69%, as opposed to 0.58% in December 2025, illustrating a deceleration in non-food item price hikes.
The average core inflation over the 12 months to January 2026 stood at 22.84%, showing a 4.40 percentage point drop from the 27.24% in January 2025.
Further details reveal that in city regions, annual inflation was 15.36% in January 2026, a significant downturn of 14.09 percentage points from the 29.45% in January 2025.
On a monthly scale, urban inflation contracted to -2.72%, a decline of 3.71 percentage points from the 0.99% in December 2025, signaling price reductions in metropolitan areas that month.
Yet, the 12-month average for urban inflation stayed elevated at 22.30% in January 2026, an increase of 3.42 percentage points over the 18.88% from January 2025.
Inflation in countryside areas mirrored this easing pattern. Annually, rural inflation was 14.44% in January 2026, down by 10.60 percentage points from the 25.04% in January 2025.
Month-on-month, rural inflation deepened its fall to -3.29%, compared with -0.55% in December 2025, indicating more pronounced cost drops in non-urban zones.
The average rural inflation for the 12 months ending January 2026 was 21.03%, considerably below the 30.79% from January 2025, illustrating reduced cost strains in rural settings over the year.
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