Number of Nigerians earning N500k drop to 6% — PiggyVest

The number of Nigerians earning N500,000 dropped to six percent from 14 percent in 2023, according to PiggyVest.

The savings platform revealed this in ‘The PiggyVest Savings Report 2024,’ released Thursday. It stated that economic devaluation towards the end of 2023 has significantly impacted the Nigerian economy, with inflation rising to 32.1 percent.

“This year’s report maps how inflation manifests in the lives of everyday Nigerians and how it influences their fiscal behaviour,” it said. Nigeria’s economy has taken since the government removed subsidy on fuel and reformed the foreign exchange market. Fuel prices have more than tripled, and inflation has soared above 30 percent, eroding purchasing power.

PiggyVest pointed out that more than one in three Nigerians earn N100,000 monthly, underscoring widespread unemployment and underemployment in the country.

“Nigerians earning N100,000 or less monthly fall into the low-income earners bracket. Many in this group struggle to afford essential items like housing and support for dependents and often rely on loan apps or family assistance to make ends meet. With high inflation drastically reducing the purchasing power of the naira, their financial challenges have only worsened,” it said.

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While the National Bureau of Statistics pegged the country’s unemployment rate at 5.3 percent in the first quarter of 2024, it revealed that only 16 percent of workers are in wage employment.

PiggVest noted a growing trend of Nigerians not reporting any income at all. It revealed that a little over 1 in 3 Nigerians reported monthly spending between N50,000 and N99,999. 1 in 3 Nigerians spend less than N50,000, and only about 1 in 100 Nigerians spend N1 million and above monthly.

Many Nigerians (87 percent) have recorded a rise in their expense over the past year. “Food inflation, in particular, spiked to 37.77 percent, with staples like bread, cereals, and oil seeing considerable price increases.

“This has had far-reaching effects on the day-to-day expenses of Nigerians as a majority – nearly 9 in 10 Nigerians – say they have noticed an increase in their general expenses in the past year,” the savings platform added.