…PwC cautioned that increasing poverty poses serious risks to Nigeria’s economic stability and growth,
ABUJA, NIGERIA- The iNews Times | Nigeria’s poverty level is forecast to climb steeply to 62 per cent by 2026, with an estimated 141 million people expected to fall below the poverty line, according to PwC.
This outlook is contained in PwC’s Nigeria Economic Outlook 2026, titled “Turning Macroeconomic Stability into Sustainable Growth.” The report explains that although recent policy measures have helped stabilise the economy, slow growth in real incomes and persistently high living costs are likely to push more households into poverty in the next two years.
PwC noted that income growth for most Nigerians is unlikely to keep pace with rising prices in the short term, as inflation continues to weaken purchasing power. While inflation may ease gradually, the firm warned that structural cost pressures in the economy would restrict meaningful improvements in affordability for households.
The report highlighted that low-income families are particularly exposed because food accounts for as much as 70 per cent of their total spending. With food inflation remaining high, these households are more vulnerable to price shocks, especially as energy costs, logistics expenses and exchange rate effects continue to drive up the prices of essential goods.
PwC cautioned that increasing poverty poses serious risks to Nigeria’s economic stability and growth, as more people struggling to meet basic needs could dampen domestic consumption, slow productivity growth and strain public finances.
A similar assessment was made in the World Bank’s Nigeria Development Update, which showed that the number of Nigerians living in poverty rose from about 81 million in 2019 to roughly 139 million in 2025, nearly 62 per cent of the population. Earlier figures indicated 115 million people in poverty in 2023, rising to about 129 million in 2024, meaning roughly 14 million Nigerians slipped into hardship within a single year.
Both PwC and the World Bank stressed that without focused interventions such as job creation, productivity gains and effective social protection programmes, reversing Nigeria’s rising poverty trend will remain difficult, with adverse implications for consumption, growth and public finances.
