Nigerians earning below N70,000 feel inflation hardest, CBN survey shows

About 68.4% of Nigerians earning below N70,000 perceived inflation as high in August 2026, the highest level recorded across the income categories surveyed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

The figure compares with 30.8% among households earning above N450,000, highlighting a wide disparity in how Nigerians across income groups experienced and perceived inflation during the month.

The N70,000 income threshold is significant as it corresponds to Nigeria’s current minimum wage, suggesting that lower-income households continued to feel the impact of rising prices more acutely than higher-income earners.

This was contained in the CBN’s latest inflation expectations survey, which showed that overall inflation perception remained elevated despite a marginal improvement during the month.

What the survey is saying

The Inflation Perception Index stood at 39.6 points in August, down slightly from 40.0 points in July, indicating that respondents continued to view inflation as high.

The proportion of respondents who perceived inflation as high declined from 66.3% in July to 64.3% in August.

• Among households, the share fell marginally from 67.3% to 67.2%, while the decline was more pronounced among businesses, from 65.4% to 61.8%.
• Rural households continued to report stronger inflation pressure than their urban counterparts. About 65.7% of rural respondents perceived inflation as high, compared with 63.2% of those in urban areas.
• The income breakdown showed an even wider gap, with 68.4% of households earning below N70,000 reporting high inflation perception, compared with just 30.8% among those earning above N450,000.

The survey also showed differences in inflation perception across businesses of different sizes.

• Micro businesses recorded the highest reported perception of high inflation at 101.4%, followed by medium-sized businesses at 63.3%, large businesses at 63.1% and small businesses at 57.4%.
• However, small businesses recorded the highest perception of moderate inflation at 32.3%, followed by large businesses at 31.8%, medium businesses at 27.8% and micro businesses at 24.7%.
• Energy costs, insecurity, interest rates and exchange rates were identified by both household and business respondents as the major factors influencing their perception of inflation.
• Raw materials and household purchases, as well as the activities of middlemen, were considered less significant contributors during the review period.
• The cost impact was also more pronounced among businesses, with 60.1% of firms reporting higher expenditure due to inflation in August, compared with 51.9% of households.
• Despite the continued high perception of inflation, respondents expect price pressures to gradually moderate over the coming months.
• The CBN’s Inflation Perception Index is projected to fall to 19.9 points in September.
• Businesses appear more optimistic over a longer horizon. While 16.9% of firms expect inflation to moderate over the next month, the proportion rises to 29.4% for the six-month outlook.
• Among households, 23.2% expect inflation to moderate over the next six months.

The CBN said both businesses and households expect inflation-related expenditure to gradually decline over the next six months, with the more positive outlook among firms contributing significantly to the expected easing.

Get up to speed

Nairametrics reported that Nigeria’s headline inflation rate declined further to 15.43% in July 2026, representing a 0.48 percentage-point decrease from the 15.91% recorded in June.

Food inflation stood at 20.31% year-on-year in July 2026, down from 26.20% recorded in July 2025.

• On a month-on-month basis, however, food inflation increased to 5.56% in July from 3.75% in June, representing a 1.82 percentage-point increase.

In August, Nairametrics reported that Nigerians earning between N150,000 and N250,000 per month were the most likely to perceive inflation as high in July 2026.

In July 2024, President Bola Tinubu approved a N70,000 minimum wage for Nigerian workers with a promise to review the national minimum wage law every three years.

What you should know

According to the PiggyVest Savings Report 2025, about 3 in 10 Nigerians earned below N100,000 per month, making it the largest income bracket in the country. The report also found that 28% of Nigerians had no income, up from 20% in 2023 and unchanged from 2024.

• The report noted that nearly 3 in 5 Nigerians either had no monthly income or earned below N100,000, underscoring the scale of economic pressure facing households.

While the share of Nigerians earning N1 million and above recovered to 5% in 2025 from 2% in 2024, the proportion earning below N100,000 remained the single largest income category.