Forty percent of people in Nigeria live in poverty, a report disclosed by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday revealed.
The in a report based on poverty and inequality capu September 2018 to October 2019, said 40% of people in the continent’s most populous country lived below its poverty line of 137,430 naira ($381.75) per year. It said that represents 82.9 million people.
It clarified that the figure showed that 40.1 per cent of the total population was classified as poor, adding that in other words, an average four out of 10 individuals in Nigeria had real per capita expenditures below N137,430.00 per year.
This means the monthly income of an individual in this category is less than N11,500 while income per day is N38.00.
The report revealed that Sokoto, Taraba, Jigawa, Ebonyi, Zamfara, Yobe and Adamawa top the poorest states in the country.
The NBS said Sokoto State had 87.73 per cent poverty head count rate followed by Taraba with 87.73 per cent, then Jigawa which has 87.02 per cent and Ebonyi with 79.76 per cent.
It revealed that Lagos, Delta, Osun, Ogun, Oyo, Edo and Anambra States had the least in terms of the poverty level.
According to the bureau, Lagos State has 4.50 per cent poverty head count rate and it is been trailed by Delta with 6.02 per cent followed by Osun State with 8.52 per cent.
The report indicated that after Osun, Ogun was next with 9.32 per cent, while Oyo has 9.83 and Edo has 11.99 per cent as well as Anambra with 14.78 per cent.
