‘Over 91m Nigerians Are Now Living In Extreme Poverty’ – New Report

According to a new report by the World Poverty Clock, a Vienna-based data lab, over 91 million Nigerians are now living in extreme poverty, and at least three million Nigerians have slipped into extreme poverty between November 2018 and February 2019. 

According to the report, 91.16 million Nigerians were living below a dollar a day as of February 13, 2019. Recall that in June 2018, the Brookings Institution projected that Nigeria had overtaken India as the poverty capital of the world, with 86.9 million extremely poor people.

This was further confirmed by British Prime Minister, Theresa May, who said Nigeria had become home to the largest number of very poor people in the world, putting the figures at 87 million.

“Much of Nigeria is thriving, with many individuals enjoying the fruits of a resurgent economy, yet 87 million Nigerians live below $1 and 90 cents a day, making it home to more very poor people than any other nation in the world,” Prime Minister May had said.

Since May made this observation in South Africa in August, the number of Nigerians living in extreme poverty has grown to 91.16 million, with six people falling into poverty every minute, according to Brookings Institution. Today, India has 48.7 million people living in poverty, from 73 million in June 2018. By implication, India has pulled out a minimum of 24 million people from poverty in less than eight months.

According to the World Bank, a person can be said to be living in extreme poverty, if he or she lives below the poverty line of $1.90 or N693.5 per day. The bank in its explanation of poverty levels said “when estimating poverty using monetary measures, one may have a choice between using income or consumption as the indicator of well-being. “Most analysts argue that, provided the information on consumption obtained from a household survey is detailed enough, consumption will be a better indicator of poverty measurement than income.”

However, using the World Bank’s poverty line, if you live below $1.90 a day, you will be classified as living in extreme poverty.