Health Inflation Hits 30.65% as Medical Costs Outpace Headline Rate
Nigeria’s health inflation rate rose to 30.65 per cent year-on-year in January 2026, more than double the headline inflation rate of 15.10 per cent recorded in the same period.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the all-items index increased from 110.7 points in January 2025 to 127.4 points in January 2026.
In contrast, the health index climbed to 142.6 points in January 2026, reflecting sustained pressure on medical costs.
The index rose steadily throughout 2025, moving from 111.1 points in February to 122.4 in March and 126.2 in April. By July, it had reached 129.9 points and increased further to 135.3 in August. It stood at 142.3 in November and 142.4 in December before rising slightly in January 2026.
Despite easing food and core inflation, health costs remained sticky. Headline inflation moderated to 15.10 per cent in January 2026 from 15.15 per cent in December 2025 and was significantly lower than the 27.61 per cent recorded in January 2025.
On a month-on-month basis, headline inflation fell by 2.88 per cent in January 2026, indicating a decline in average prices compared to December.
Food inflation slowed to 8.89 per cent year-on-year from 29.63 per cent a year earlier, while core inflation declined to 17.72 per cent from 25.27 per cent in January 2025.
However, the health division contributed 0.91 percentage points to the headline inflation rate in January 2026. With a weight of 6.06 in the Consumer Price Index basket, persistent increases in medical costs continue to impact household spending.
Health services, which form part of the broader services index, recorded a 22.17 per cent year-on-year rise in January 2026, compared to goods inflation of 11.03 per cent.
Analysts attribute the sustained rise in health inflation to structural pressures, including high import dependence for pharmaceuticals, rising energy costs for hospitals and exchange rate pass-through effects.
In August 2025, The PUNCH reported that despite President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s June 2024 executive order abolishing tariffs, excise duties and VAT on pharmaceutical machinery and raw materials, drug prices continued to surge.
The report noted that prices of essential medicines increased between 30 per cent and 100 per cent, worsening the burden on households.
Public health physicians have warned that heavy reliance on out-of-pocket payments is pushing many families below the poverty line, forcing them to choose between seeking medical care and meeting basic needs.
