In a surprising revelation amidst economic challenges, Nigeria emerges with the second-lowest cost of living on the global stage, securing a remarkable position according to Numbeo’s latest cost of living index for 2024.
Surpassing all African nations, Nigeria trails only behind Pakistan in boasting an impressively low cost of living, a stark contrast to the country’s alarming inflation rates and the ongoing depreciation of its currency.
According to africa.businessinsider.com, Nigeria’s inflation which is currently at an alarming 28.92%, an 18-year high, and a 13-month consistent surge, has seemingly done little to raise its cost of living index to a global high.
Inflation is typically associated with a greater cost of living. However, Nigeria’s reality calls into question this logic. The cost of living index, which takes into account factors such as housing, transportation, food, and healthcare, still places Nigeria as one of the countries with the lowest cost of living, presenting an interesting case study.
To collect data, Numbeo relies on user inputs and manually collected data from authoritative sources (websites of supermarkets, taxi company websites, governmental institutions, newspaper articles, other surveys, etc.). Manually collected data from established sources are entered twice per year.
With that said, Nigeria’s current cost of living index stands at 19.0. When compared to the highest, Bermuda there is a 114.8 disparity, as Bermuda has a cost of living index of 133.8.
Also when compared to Mozambique, which has the highest cost of living in Africa at 45.2, there is a 26.2 points difference.
Nigeria’s relatively low cost of living is despite the fact that the country’s latest food inflation rate accelerated to 33.93% on a year-on-year basis, marking a 10.18% increase compared to the rate recorded in December 2022 (23.75%).
According to a report by Business Day, a prominent news publication in Nigeria, “100% of respondents who participated in the publication’s poll are dissatisfied with the current cost of food, and 75% believe the government isn’t doing enough to address the issue.
A recent report also shows that commodity prices in Nigeria are set to surge again, following the fall of the country’s currency to N1,420/$.
While Nigerians are generally frustrated with the current state of affairs in the country, Numbeo’s list shows that its living conditions are very cheap compared to the rest of the world.
