Housing and Transport Drive Sierra Leone’s Inflation to 15.66% in August 2026
Deborah Sorie Sierra Leone’s annual inflation rate rose to 15.66 percent in August 2026, with housing-related costs and transport recording the biggest contributions to the increase, according to the latest Consumer Price Index released by Statistics Sierra Leone (Stats SL).
The national year-on-year inflation rate increased from 14.89 percent in July to 15.66 percent in August, representing a rise of 0.77 percentage point. Monthly inflation also increased sharply from 0.42 percent in July to 2.19 percent in August.
The Housing, Water, Electricity, Gas and Other Fuels category recorded an annual inflation rate of 87.73 percent in August, up from 83.72 percent in July. Transport inflation also rose to 41.49 percent, compared with 37.04 percent the previous month.
Stats SL’s impact analysis identified the two categories as the largest contributors to the national annual inflation rate. Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels contributed 7.81 percentage points, while transport contributed 3.53 percentage points.
The sharpest monthly increase among the major categories was recorded in transport, whose inflation rate moved from -2.94 percent in July to 2.67 percent in August, a 5.61 percentage-point increase.
Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels also recorded a monthly inflation rate of 4.93 percent, up from 3.79 percent, while food and non-alcoholic beverages rose from -0.32 percent to 2.41 percent over the same period.
Despite the rise in the headline rate, food inflation remained significantly lower than non-food inflation.
Annual inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages stood at 5.82 percent, compared with 23.54 percent for non-food items. Food and non-alcoholic beverage inflation increased only slightly from 5.74 percent in July, while non-food inflation rose by 1.43 percentage points from 22.11 percent.
Other categories that recorded annual increases included health at 11.75 percent, restaurants and hotels at 18.73 percent, and furnishings, household equipment and routine household maintenance at 6.38 percent. Clothing and footwear was among the categories that declined, falling to 4.81 percent from 6.26 percent in July.
The August figures also show notable differences across Sierra Leone’s regions.
The Western Area recorded the highest annual inflation rate at 24.12 percent, rising from 21.87 percent in July. Northern Region followed at 16.77 percent, while Eastern Region increased from 9.80 percent to 10.07 percent.
In contrast, Southern Region’s annual inflation rate fell from 6.49 percent to 4.25 percent, while North-West Region declined from 2.39 percent to 1.82 percent.
Stats SL said only the Western Area and Northern Region recorded inflation rates above the national estimate in August, while Southern and North-West regions remained in single digits.
The statistics agency noted that Sierra Leone has recorded a double-digit national inflation rate for six consecutive months since March 2025.
Stats SL’s national inflation measure is based on the change in average price indexes for goods and services purchased by households in Freetown, Bo, Kenema, Kono, Makeni and Port Loko-Kambia, covering at least 440 items across the consumer basket.
The August 2026 Consumer Price Index was released by Statistics Sierra Leone on September 15, 2026.