Many households in Africa’s biggest economy are forced to cut back on meals, travel and gifts for Christmas celebrations as inflation squeezes their finances.
The continued surge in prices of food and other products is making families reassess their spending for Christmas, with many forgoing long-standing traditions, BusinessDay’s findings show.
In an attempt to gauge the impact of Nigeria’s high cost of living, BusinessDay spoke with two dozen individuals, with an overwhelming majority saying they plan to spend less during this festive season than they did last year.
“I usually travel to spend Christmas with my parents yearly since I started working but I can’t afford to do that this year. Transportation cost from Lagos to the East has almost tripled,” Chigozie Anthony, a store-keeper at a factory in Ikeja, said.
“My organisation has refused to review workers’ salaries to present-day reality with inflation at a 17-year high. If I don’t manage what I have now and prioritise my spending, I would be left with nothing in January,” Anthony said.
The year has been dominated by the cost-of-living crisis, with inflation at 21.47 percent in November, the highest in 17 years and far outpacing wage growth, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
Food prices are up 150 percent, and the prices of petrol and diesel have jumped by 32 and 180 percent respectively year-on-year, according to BusinessDay’s market checks.
Roselyn Adeyemo, a nurse and mother of three, won’t be giving out Christmas gifts to her neighbours and religious leaders owing to the price hikes.
“I wouldn’t be giving out gifts this Christmas as I usually do. Last year, with N50,000, I was able to share 1kg rice and a litre of vegetable oil with my neighbours and pastors. I need about N200,000 now to do that this year, which I can’t afford,” she said.
“So, for the first time in 12 years since I got married, I would not be sharing gifts. Things are getting harder daily, and after Christmas, we have school fees and house rent to pay. So, I have to cut back on lots of things to survive,” she added.
Analysts attributed the high inflation to the Russia-Ukraine war, the style of economic management, and low oil revenue, which have made the country’s currency, naira, almost 7 percent and 25 percent of its value in the official and parallel markets respectively this year.
Read also: Food, petrol drive inflation for 10th straight month
The naira traded around 750 per dollar at the parallel market on Tuesday, compared to 560/$1 a year ago. The official rate averaged N447.58/$ last Friday, compared to N417.65/$ at the end of last year, according to data from FMDQ Group.
Nigeria has been grappling with double-digit inflation since 2016 but has seen the fastest increase in prices of goods and services this year in recent years.
The situation has exacerbated poverty in Africa’s most populous country, with 63 percent of Nigerians (133 million) suffering from multidimensional poverty – meaning that two in three people are poor in health, education, standard of living, and work, according to a recent report by the National Bureau of Statistics.
“It has been a very difficult year. Prices of everything have doubled and we can no longer afford the menu we usually have for Christmas this year and we won’t be travelling to Ondo to celebrate it,” Adejoke Adewunmi, a mother of five who was at Mile 12 Market to make purchases, told BusinessDay.
“Also, we are cutting down on clothing for Christmas. I usually buy two dresses each for my children but we won’t do that this year.”
Abimbola Adeyinka, a 37-year-old teacher, said she and her husband had to move into their family house as their income could no longer sustain their daily expenses.
She said her family would not be celebrating Christmas as they cannot afford to do so, adding that it would be her first time of not enjoying the festive season since she became an adult.
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