The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that 63% of people living in Nigeria (133 million people) are poor in many respects.
This is according to a press statement issued by the NBS on Thursday to highlight the results of the 2022 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) Survey.
According to the report, More than half of Nigeria’s population is multidimensionally poor with multidimensional poverty being higher in rural areas, where 72% of people are poor, compared to 42% of people in urban areas.
Highlights of the report: This report also revealed that The National MPI is 0.257, which shows that the poor people in Nigeria only experience a quarter of all possible disadvantages.
- 65% of the poor (86 million people) live in the North, while 35% (nearly 47 million) live in the South. Poverty levels in the states vary greatly, with the incidence of multidimensional poverty ranging from a low of 27% in Ondo to a high of 91% in Sokoto.
- More than half of Nigeria’s population is largely poor and cooks with dung, wood, or charcoal, instead of clean energy. High deficits also appear in the country in sanitation, health care time, food insecurity, and housing.
- In general, the incidence of monetary poverty is lower than the incidence of multidimensional poverty in most states. In Nigeria, 40.1% of people are poor, according to the 2018/19 national monetary poverty line, and 63% are multidimensionally poor according to the National MPI 2022.
- Multidimensional poverty is higher in rural areas, where 72% of people are poor, compared to 42% of people in urban areas.
- The National MPI is reported with a linked Child MPI, which provides additional information on Multidimensional Child Poverty in Nigeria.
According to the report, Two-thirds (67.5%) of children (0-17) are multidimensionally poor, based on the National MPI, and more than half (51%) of all poor children.