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Sierra Leone’s annual national consumer price inflation rose to 8.05 percent in February 2026, marking a 1.67 percentage point increase from the 6.38 percent recorded in January, according to the latest Consumer Price Index report released by Statistics Sierra Leone.
Seirraloaded reports that the month-on-month inflation rate also experienced an uptick, reaching 2.51 percent in February compared to 1.73 percent the previous month.
Despite the month’s increase, the national year-on-year inflation rate remains in the single digits. Statistics Sierra Leone attributed the upward movement to economic shocks, specifically an increase in the pump price of fuel during February, alongside rising food prices tied to the fasting period and the seasonal scarcity of certain food items.
The inflation rate for non-food items continues to outpace food costs, climbing to 10.95 percent in February from 9.58 percent in January. This jump was heavily driven by the “Housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels” category, which surged to 35.89 percent year-on-year—a 10.52 percentage point increase from January. Transport and Health categories also saw notable year-on-year increases, rising to 9.10 percent and 5.42 percent, respectively.
Meanwhile, annual inflation for food and non-alcoholic beverages stood at 4.38 percent in February, up from 2.37 percent in January.
According to the index made available to Sierraloaded, several categories helped temper the overall inflation rate by trending downward year-on-year, including clothing and footwear (9.14 percent), restaurants and hotels (10.38 percent), and furnishings and household equipment.
Inflation rates varied significantly across Sierra Leone’s regions, with only the Western and Northern regions registering rates above the 8.05 percent national average.
The Northern region was the only area to report double-digit inflation, recording a year-on-year rate of 16.35 percent. The Western Area followed at 9.61 percent.
Other regions reported much softer inflation figures, with the Eastern region at 4.67 percent, the North-west region at 3.96 percent, and the Southern region recording the lowest rate in the country at just 2.65 percent.
