By Okeoghene Akubuike
Nigeria’s once-resilient middle class is steadily being pushed towards poverty as rising inflation, weak purchasing power and escalating living costs continue to erode household incomes, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.
For decades, Nigeria’s middle class symbolised stability, aspiration and economic balance, families able to afford decent housing, educate their children, access healthcare and still save for the future. Today, however, that sense of security is rapidly slipping away.
Rising inflation, shrinking real incomes and soaring costs of food, transport, rent and utilities are pushing millions of middle-income Nigerians closer to economic hardship.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), about 133 million Nigerians are now multi-dimensionally poor, a figure that has heightened fears about the near erosion of the country’s middle class.
The World Bank projects a bleaker outlook, warning that Nigeria’s poverty rate could rise to 62 per cent by 2026, potentially leaving about 141 million people trapped in hardship.
Once the backbone of consumption, investment and job creation, the middle class, estimated at 23 per cent of the population by the African Development Bank (AfDB), is increasingly unable to withstand the pressures of inflation, the removal of fuel subsidies, naira devaluation and rising utility costs.
As food prices soar, transport fares surge, rents double in some cities and electricity tariffs continue to rise, a lifestyle that once felt secure is becoming increasingly fragile.
What previously served as a bridge between the rich and the poor is now under severe strain, with implications for household stability and domestic economic activity.
In Nigeria, the middle class typically comprises individuals earning between N300,000 and N1.5 million monthly. This group includes lower-middle-income earners earning N300,000 to N500,000, and upper-middle-income earners earning N800,000 to N1.5 million per month.
They are mainly educated professionals across the public and private sectors—civil servants, bankers, teachers, doctors, lawyers, and small- and medium-scale entrepreneurs —who, for decades, have functioned as economic stabilisers by driving consumption, investment, and employment.
However, that stabilising role is weakening rapidly.
Only a few years ago, a monthly income of between N500,000 and N1.5 million could sustain a modest but stable lifestyle, covering transport, school fees, housing, healthcare and some savings. Today, even earners within this bracket struggle to meet basic needs.
Food now consumes a disproportionate share of household income, while transport costs have surged sharply.
Rent has doubled in some urban centres, and electricity tariffs, alongside other essential bills, continue to rise.
*Workers, professionals, entrepreneurs lament shrinking incomes, rising living costs
Mr Abdullahi Yusuf, a civil servant, said the erosion of the middle class worsened after the Federal Government removed petrol subsidy and floated the naira in 2023.
“As civil servants, who constitute the bulk of the middle class, our take-home pay can no longer take us home. Every perceived essential commodity has become a luxury,” he said.
A banker, Mrs Dupe Alao, echoed similar concerns, describing a once-comfortable middle class now forced to ration spending.
“Chicken and fresh meat have become occasional treats. Fruits and vegetables are no longer daily staples. Even simple comforts like eating out or weekend treats for children are now luxuries,” she said.
She added that school fees and healthcare expenses, once routine, now require careful planning or are delayed altogether. At the same time, single-income households can no longer cope, forcing spouses and adult children to take on extra jobs.
Entrepreneurs are also struggling. Mr Gbenga Oduwaiye, who runs a logistics and transportation business, said inflation spiked sharply after the removal of the fuel subsidy, driving up transport costs, spare parts, and rent.
“We increased salaries, but our operating costs exploded. At one point, we had to lay off two drivers because we couldn’t afford to pay them,” he said.
According to him, multiple taxation, high spare-part costs and bank charges are suffocating small businesses.
“Companies that used to make N400,000 to N500,000 monthly are now struggling to make N200,000,” he added.
Economist and agro-consultant Mr Sunday Peter described inflation as the central force shrinking the middle class, noting that those who once paid bills comfortably, saved, and invested can no longer meet basic needs.
Another economist, Mr Ephraim Audu, attributed the decline to inflation, the naira devaluation, and the removal of the fuel subsidy, calling for urgent short-term relief measures alongside medium- and long-term structural reforms.
