By Radarr Africa Business Desk
LAGOS, November 2 (Radarr Africa) – Nigeria’s private sector expanded for a ninth consecutive month in October, but firms raised their selling prices at the fastest pace in four months as fuel, transport and other input costs climbed, the latest Stanbic IBTC Bank Nigeria Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) showed.
The headline PMI eased to 55.7 in October from 56.4 in September, according to a report by Leadership newspaper that was republished on Monday. A reading above 50 indicates improving business conditions, so the index remains in expansion territory even though momentum cooled slightly.
More than 29 per cent of survey respondents raised their selling prices during the month, the fastest rate of increase in four months. Manufacturing recorded the fastest selling-price inflation, narrowly ahead of wholesale and retail.
Muyiwa Oni, head of equity research for West Africa at Stanbic IBTC Bank, said panellists also indicated that prices of “building materials and food produce increased during the month”.
Output and new orders both grew for a ninth straight month, the survey showed. Purchasing activity has now expanded for 23 consecutive months, while supplier delivery times shortened for a fourth consecutive month.
Not every indicator was positive. Firms reduced their outstanding business for a third straight month, and at the fastest rate since January. Employment growth slowed to its weakest pace in three months, although the survey said hiring has continued since June 2025.
On the outlook, 46 per cent of respondents were optimistic about the next 12 months, slightly fewer than in September.
An economic calendar published by The Rio Times had listed a forecast of 57.2 for the October reading, without naming the source of that forecast. The actual figure of 55.7 is therefore below that expectation, though the index remains well above the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction.
The October reading follows September’s 56.4, which The Rio Times described as the highest since February 2022, when the index stood at 57.3. That report said the September survey was published on October 5, that new orders rose for an eighth straight month and that all four surveyed sectors improved. Firms also hired faster in September, mostly temporary workers.
Stanbic IBTC projected growth of 4.56 per cent year on year in the third quarter of 2026, and about 4.4 per cent for the full year, compared with 3.87 per cent in 2025, according to The Rio Times.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) cut its Monetary Policy Rate from 26.5 per cent to 23 per cent on September 22, a reduction of 3.5 percentage points. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported headline inflation of 14.63 per cent in September, down from 15.39 per cent in August and 20.98 per cent a year earlier. Food inflation was 19.59 per cent in September.
The Rio Times reported that input costs kept rising in September and that selling prices reached a three-month high, with higher fuel prices pushing up transport costs. It added that strong sales can mask thin margins when costs rise as quickly as prices.
