Nigeria’s inflation is projected to slow to the single-digit range within the next three years, according to the Nigerian Economic Summit Group. That will mark the first time in over five years as Africa’s most populous nation continues to grapple with prices still at double digits.
The group also anticipates Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) to expand by 5.5 percent in 2026, while inflation is expected to stabilize at 16 percent by the end of this year.
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“We should be looking at a single-digit inflation by 2029. This shows that we have consolidated our macroeconomic gains,” Olusegun Omisakin, NESG’s chief economist and director of research and development, said on Thursday during the launch of the group’s ‘2026 Macroeconomic Outlook’ report in Lagos.
According to Omisakin, Nigeria’s external reserves, which climbed to a seven-year high by the end of 2025, are projected to reach $52 billion, while the naira is predicted to close the year at N1,480 to the dollar, having gained 7.5 percent—its first gain in more than a decade last year.
Nigeria sustained a disinflationary trend for eight straight months to November 2025 as prices slowed to 14.45 percent. But a blip looms ahead of December data scheduled today, as authorities said a technical base effect is expected to inflate the inflation data.
To ensure transparency, the National Bureau of Statistics said it’s going to publish two inflation reports for last month, one that shows true economic fundamentals and the other that reflects the change in methodology.
Inflation is expected to moderate in 2026, supported by slowing food and energy prices.
Wasiu Alli is a business and economics journalist with more than two years experience covering macro trends, government policies, corporate earnings and comparative economics analysis. Alli turns raw data into trends that not only tells compelling stories but nudges investors to make valued and informed decisions. An alumnus of Lagos State University and trained at Lagos Business School, he heads the Companies and Markets desk at BusinessDay where he writes and supervises the production of well researched articles on earnings updates, corporate sectoral comparisons, market intelligence as well as interviews with C-suite executives.
