CBN survey: Nigerian households delay houses, cars, investments as living costs bite

Nigerian households turned more pessimistic in September 2026 and pulled back from major purchases as living costs bit harder, the Central Bank of Nigeria Household Expectations Survey shows. Overall consumer sentiment fell to -18.7 index points in September from -9.9 points in August. The CBN said the buying environment remained unfavourable.

The survey shows households kept their focus on essentials and delayed houses, cars, investments, durables and rent. Sentiment is expected to improve gradually over the next six months.

Major purchases out of reach

Purchase intentions stayed well below the 50.0 threshold. The CBN said: 'Households showed reluctance to spend large parts of their income on major purchases like House, Car/motor vehicles, Investments, as indicated by negative sentiment indices across all periods.'

In September 2026, the CBN said: 'Households reported negative intentions for major purchases, particularly for houses and motor vehicles, evidenced by the negative outlook indices for house purchase (-68.2), car/motor vehicle acquisition (-67.3), followed by investments (-50.7), household appliances & other consumer durables (-49.5) and rent (-32.0).'

It added: 'The Buying Conditions Index for major purchases remained unfavourable (below the 50.0 threshold) across all three survey horizons.'

The CBN also said: 'In September 2026, respondents showed widespread hesitancy to purchase consumer durables, motor vehicles, and buildings and landed properties, as indicated by indices of 19.4, 15.7 and 14.8 points, respectively.' Sentiment across most expenditure categories is projected to strengthen slightly over the coming six months.

Consumer sentiment stays negative

The Overall Consumer Sentiments Index fell by 8.8 points in September. The CBN said: 'The Overall Consumer Sentiments in September 2026 stood at -18.7 index points compared to -9.9 index points recorded in August 2026, indicating pessimistic outlook for the macroeconomy.'

It said: 'The Economic Conditions index recorded -21.5 points in September 2026, indicating a pessimistic outlook on current economic conditions among households.'

It also said: 'Family Financial Situation Index remained negative at -23.9 points in September 2026, indicating respondents' pessimism regarding their family financial situation.'

The CBN said: 'Family Income Sentiments stood at -10.5 index points in September 2026, indicating pessimism on Family income.'

Consumer sentiment was also negative over the next month and three months, at -8.7 and -0.4 index points respectively, before turning positive at 7.1 points over the six-month horizon.

Prices and spending priorities

Households reported a stronger perception of price increases. The CBN said: 'In September 2026, the Consumer Sentiments Index for average prices of selected items stood at 33.5 points from 23.0 points recorded in August 2026 indicating that household perceive prices to be high.'

It said: 'Among the selected items, households reported the lowest perceptions of price changes for food and telecommunication services.'

The CBN said: 'In September, respondents prioritised basic expenditures, including food, transport, other household goods, education, and electricity and water.' It added: 'Food was the dominant expenditure priority in the current period.'

Food, transportation, other household goods and education are also expected to remain among the main areas of household spending over the next three and six months.

Nairametrics reported that the share of Nigerian households that perceived inflation as high rose to 77.2% in September 2026, up from 67.2% in August. Over 68.4% of Nigerians earning below N70,000 perceived inflation as high in August 2026, the highest level across the income categories surveyed by the CBN. The National Bureau of Statistics reported that Nigeria's headline inflation rate eased marginally to 15.39% in August 2026 from 15.43% in July.

The survey points to weaker appetite for big-ticket purchases and property in the near term. It also suggests Nigerian businesses selling durables, vehicles and housing may face slower demand, while food, transport, education and utilities remain the strongest spending priorities.