If you have been in Lagos for more than a couple of years, you have watched prices change month by month. Understanding why helps you plan, negotiate pay, and decide what to hold your savings in.
The naira
The World Bank’s figures, from the official market rate, put the naira at about ₦1,518 to the dollar on average in 2025, against the equivalent of ₦0.71 in 1960, before the naira replaced the Nigerian pound.
The sharpest fall in recent memory came from 2023, when the Central Bank stopped holding the official rate and let it float towards the market. The gap between the official rate and the street rate, which had been wide for years, narrowed — and the official rate fell a long way to meet it.
Inflation
Consumer prices rose by 23% in 2025, by the World Bank’s measure. The highest annual rate in its series was 72.8%, in 1995.
Food and transport drive it. When the naira falls, imported goods — and everything moved by petrol — cost more, and the removal of the petrol subsidy in 2023 pushed transport costs up across the board.
What it means for you
- Rent is set once a year, or two, and paid up front — so each renewal can bring a large jump. Negotiate the length and the increase before you renew. The rent advance
- Pay set in naira loses value as prices rise. Ask how and when salaries are reviewed, and keep evidence of what things cost. Salary calculator
- Savings held in naira lose value when inflation is higher than the interest they earn. Many people keep some savings in other forms; any investment carries risk, so learn before you commit and avoid schemes that promise high, fixed returns. Scams in Lagos
How Lagosians cope
Buying staples in bulk when prices dip, sharing costs within families, shopping in markets rather than supermarkets, and a side business alongside a job. None is unusual here.