Despite reports of a gradual and easing inflation in the country, the World Bank says that poverty still persists as statistics show that the poverty level amongst Nigerians rise to 63%.
ENigeria Newspaper gathered that in the institution’s report titled Nigeria Development Update (April 2026) titled “Nigeria’s Tomorrow Must Start Today: The Case for Early Childhood Development”. The report, which was released on Tuesday at the nation’s capital, Abuja, by World Bank Nigeria lead economist Fiseha Haile, reflects the growing concerns of Nigeria who worry that the government’s claims of an easing inflation does not translate to the situation of average Nigerians who still grapple in abject poverty.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, headline inflation decreased by 19.65 percentage points, from 34.80 percent in December 2024 to 15.15 percent in December 2025. During the same time span, food inflation also dropped significantly, from 39.84% to 10.84%.
However, the World Bank data shows that the percentage of Nigerians living below the poverty line rose from 56% in 2023 to 61% in 2024 and then to 63% in 2025, or over 140 million people.
“Household incomes have not grown fast enough to offset still-elevated inflation, and poverty has yet to begin declining,” Haile stated.
“Overall business activity has been expanding over the past few months, suggesting the impact on growth has been relatively contained. But the shock is still being felt through higher inflation. Fuel prices have risen more than 50% during the Iran war, feeding into transport, food and production costs.
“Inflation is still elevated and under increasing pressure, and that poses risks to incomes and poverty reduction,” Haile added.
He also identified structural barriers to reducing poverty, pointing out that industry and services have been the main drivers of economic growth while agriculture, which employs more than half of the impoverished, has lagged behind.
Despite thes negative optics, the World Bank advised that, in order to control inflation, authorities should conserve windfalls from rising oil prices, maintain strict monetary policy, and refrain from providing widespread subsidies. This way, the World Bank projects an economic growth of roughly 4.2% for 2026.
In the same vein, poverty is predicted to drop to roughly 59% thanks to steady growth and decreased food inflation by 2028.
