Nigeria poverty defines a widening gap between official data and daily hardship in 2025.
Inflation is easing, but poverty continues to rise across households nationwide.
The World Bank released its Nigeria Development Update (April 2026) in Abuja.
It titled the report “Nigeria’s Tomorrow Must Start Today: The Case for Early Childhood Development”.
Rising Poverty Trend
The report shows poverty rose to 63% in 2025, from 61% in 2024.
It also shows an increase from 56% in 2023, confirming a steady worsening trend.
About 140 million Nigerians now live below the national poverty line.
The World Bank says incomes fail to rise fast enough for recovery.
Households still struggle with the aftershock of earlier high inflation.
The report states that household incomes have not grown fast enough.
Even with easing inflation, most families still feel weak purchasing power.
Inflation Relief Not Felt
Global shocks push up living costs across energy, food, and transport.
The Middle East conflict raises global energy and food prices further.
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Low-income households suffer most, as basic costs consume most income.
The report highlights a deeper structural problem in Nigeria’s growth pattern.
Services and industry drive most of Nigeria’s economic growth.
Agriculture employs most poor Nigerians but grows much more slowly.
Weak agricultural growth limits income gains for rural households nationwide.
As a result, growth fails to reduce poverty at a meaningful pace.
The World Bank calls for inclusive and job-rich growth urgently.
Outlook And Risks Ahead
It expects poverty to start falling from 2026 as conditions improve.
It projects a drop to about 59% by 2028 under current trends.
This projection depends on lower inflation and stable macroeconomic conditions.
However, job creation remains weak across many sectors of the economy.
Low agricultural productivity continues to restrict broader economic gains.
The report warns that inequality will slow poverty reduction further.
It links poverty to poor nutrition, health, and early childhood outcomes.
These conditions reinforce long-term cycles of disadvantage across generations.
Inflation fell from 34.80% to 15.15% between 2024 and 2025.
Food inflation also dropped sharply from 39.84% to 10.84%.
Despite this, households have not yet felt real economic relief.
Nigeria’s challenge remains the gap between falling inflation and rising poverty.
