Private-sector activity expanded across Nigeria, Japan and India in August 2026, according to separate purchasing managers’ index surveys. Nigeria’s Stanbic IBTC Bank PMI rose to 54.3 from 52.5 in July, marking the seventh consecutive month of growth and the strongest expansion since March 2025. Japan’s final S&P Global Composite PMI increased to 53.5 from 52.7, exceeding the 53.4 flash estimate and reaching its highest level since February. India’s HSBC Composite PMI stood at 54.3, unchanged from July and slightly below the 54.6 flash reading, signalling solid but still subdued growth at the joint-slowest pace in four and a half years and below the historical trend. Nigeria’s expansion was supported by stronger new orders, new product launches and improved material availability, while Japan recorded firmer manufacturing output, services activity and total new orders. In India, goods production growth slowed even as services strengthened, total sales growth remained among the weakest since early 2022, and employment rose at the fastest pace in 14 months as services hiring offset manufacturing job losses. Cost dynamics also diverged: India’s composite input-cost inflation eased to a seven-month low while charge inflation hit its strongest since April; Japan’s selling-price inflation reached its fastest pace since the survey began in 2007.