The food inflation rate in February stood at 12.12 per cent, up from 8.89 per cent recorded in the previous month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The NBS inflation report in January showed that the food inflation rate slumped to its lowest level in 14 years, at 8.89 per cent, the first single-digit rate since August 2011, when food inflation stood at 8.66 per cent. However, in the NBS February inflation report released on Monday, food inflation returned to double digits, climbing to 12.12 per cent, a 3.23 per cent increase from the preceding month. The statistics office attributed the increase to a rise in the average price of staple foods and vegetables. “The increase can be attributed to the rate of increase in the average prices of Beans, Carrots, Okazi Leaf, Cassava Tuber, Crayfish, Millet Flour, Yam Flour, Snails, Avenger (Ogbono/Apon) – dried ungrinded, and cow peas,” NBS stated. The report also showed that February headline inflation dropped slightly to 15.06 per cent, from 15.10 per cent recorded in January. Food inflation On a year-on-year basis, the food inflation rate stood at 12.12 per cent, 14.86 per cent lower than the 26.98 per cent recorded in February 2025. However, on a month-on-month basis, the food inflation rate in February 2026 was 4.69 per cent, up by 10.70 per cent from January 2026, which was -6.02 per cent. According to the NBS, the average annual rate of food inflation for the twelve months ending February 2026 over the previous twelve-month average was 19.08 per cent, which was 18.32 percentage points lower compared to the 37.40 per cent average annual rate of change recorded in February 2025. State profile In February 2026, food inflation on a year-on-year basis was highest in Kogi at 26.91 per cent, while Adamawa and Benue followed with 23.12 per cent and 21.89 per cent, respectively. The slowest rise in food inflation on a year-on-year basis was recorded in Katsina at 5.09 per cent, Bauchi at 7.09 per cent, and Imo at 7.65 per cent. On a month-on-month basis, however, February 2026 food inflation was highest in Bayelsa at 8.81 per cent, Ebonyi at 8.51 per cent, and Edo at 7.72 per cent. Also, Katsina, Nasarawa, and Kano recorded a decline in food inflation on a month-on-month basis, at 0.70 per cent, 0.17 per cent, and 1.39 per cent, respectively.