Poverty levels in Nigeria are projected to worsen sharply over the next two years, with about 141 million people roughly 62 per cent of the population expected to be living in poverty by 2026, according to a new report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
The projection is contained in PwC’s Nigeria Economic Outlook 2026, titled Turning Macroeconomic Stability into Sustainable Growth, released on Tuesday.
The report warns that recent economic policy measures introduced to stabilise the economy have yet to deliver meaningful welfare improvements for most households.
PwC noted that weak real income growth, coupled with persistently high living costs, is likely to push millions more Nigerians into poverty, even as headline inflation is expected to moderate gradually.
According to the report, Nigeria’s poverty rate is forecast to rise to 62 per cent by 2026, reflecting the combined effects of sluggish income growth and lingering inflationary pressures.
The firm further observed that most Nigerians are unlikely to experience income increases sufficient to offset rising expenses in the near term, leaving households particularly those in lower income brackets highly vulnerable to economic shocks.
