Survey54 is an on-demand market research and data insight company with a focus on Africa & emerging markets.
In line with their focus on Nigeria, one of Africa’s biggest and most vibrant markets, Survey54 has rolled out a report on how Nigerians are spending in 2021: the Nigerian Spending Power report.
This report targets businesses with a focus on the Nigerian market, helping them to better understand the effects of a changing economy. As a result, they can guarantee customer satisfaction and maximize profits.
The Nigerian Spending Power report was drawn from the responses of 281 mobile app respondents across major cities in the country. They were randomly selected across different ages, gender, and socio-economic backgrounds.
According to the report, consumption habits have shifted dramatically as a result of the recession, inflation, and the COVID-19 pandemic. When making a purchase decision, consumers consider a number of factors. The amount Nigerians are willing to spend on essentials and non-essentials depends on their employment status, monthly earnings, as well as household size.
Food is a necessity for 71% of respondents, and it is their highest monthly expense. The high cost of food in Nigeria leads Nigerians to prefer day-to-day essential food stuff like garri and rice over non-essentials like cereal.
The report also considers the effect of the pandemic on travel and transportation. The nationwide lock-down policy to curb the spread of the coronavirus had a lot of citizens spend much time at home. While some worked from home, others didn’t do much at home. Either way, this increased the level of the data consumption of a lot of Nigerians. This is revealed in the 43% of the survey’s respondents that confirmed that they spent more on airtime/data subscription than they did the previous year. 44% said they spent more because they spend more time online, while only 10% said they spent less.
After the lockdown policy was eased, many people who had been bored at home took advantage of the freedom to travel. 62% of respondents also resumed working from the office. As a result, domestic and international travel boomed in 2021 making 40% of respondents spend more on transportation than they did in 2020.
Another focus of the report is alcohol consumption. According to the respondents, income level determines how essential the consumption of alcohol is. Although bars and lounges had closed, that didn’t stop solo-drinking at homes.
38% of respondents that earn less than NGN50,000 spent less on alcoholic beverages, while those that earn as much as NGN300,000 and more could spare over NGN20,000 on alcohol consumption. Nevertheless, 44% of respondents think they didn’t spend more on alcohol in the year 2021 as against 2020.
An important aspect of the report confirms that Nigerians are resilient and enterprising. Nigerians are famously active as side-hustlers.
Even in the face of harsh socio-economic realities, they are willing to take risks and start new businesses.
The full report is available here.
