The World Bank has sounded the alarm over deepening poverty levels in Nigeria, revealing that 75.5 percent of people living in rural areas now fall below the poverty line.
This revelation is contained in the Bank’s April 2025 Poverty and Equity Brief for Nigeria, which paints a grim picture of rising economic inequality, stagnation, and worsening living conditions across the country.
While urban poverty stands at 41.3 percent, the situation in rural communities is significantly worse, driven by a toxic mix of economic stagnation, inflation, and insecurity.
According to the report, “Based on the most recent official household survey data from Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics, 30.9 per cent of Nigerians lived below the international extreme poverty line of $2.15 per person per day in 2018/19 before the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The World Bank also highlighted stark regional inequalities.
“Nigeria remains spatially unequal. The poverty rate in northern geopolitical zones was 46.5 per cent in 2018/19, compared with 13.5 per cent for southern ones.
Inequality measured by the Gini index was estimated at 35.1 in 2018/19,” the report stated.
The Prosperity Gap, which measures how far average incomes fall short of the ideal prosperity level of $25 per day, was pegged at 10.2 for Nigeria, a figure significantly higher than most of its economic peers.
The report further shows that children are disproportionately affected.
“Children aged 0 to 14 years had a poverty rate of 72.5 per cent,” the document revealed.
It also underscored gender-based disparities, noting that “63.9 per cent of females and 63.1 percent of males” live below the $3.65 per day lower-middle-income poverty line.
Education remains a key determinant of poverty. Nigerians with no formal schooling have the highest poverty rate at 79.5 percent.
Those with primary and secondary education fare slightly better, with poverty rates of 61.9 and 50 percent, respectively.
Only individuals with tertiary education show some level of resilience, with a 25.4 percent poverty rate.
The report also emphasized Nigeria’s multidimensional poverty challenge.
“About 30.9 per cent of Nigerians survive on less than $2.15 a day, 32.6 per cent do not have access to limited-standard drinking water, 45.1 per cent lack limited-standard sanitation, and 39.4 per cent have no access to electricity,” it noted.
Other indicators include education gaps: “17.6 per cent of adults have not completed primary education, and 9.0 per cent of households have at least one school-aged child who is not enrolled in school.”
While acknowledging economic reforms aimed at macroeconomic stability, the World Bank warned that high inflation remains a critical threat.
“Before COVID-19, extreme poverty reduction had almost stagnated, dropping by only half a percentage point annually since 2010. Living standards of the urban poor are hardly improving, and jobs that would allow households to escape poverty are lacking,” the report said.
It called for urgent interventions to shield vulnerable groups from inflation and to boost employment through higher-value economic activities.
