World Bank says Nigeria’s per capita income to drop to its lowest in 40 years

0
28

 

By Francis Ogwo

Nigeria’s per capital income according to World Bank may fall to its lowest level in 40 years this year.

This was made known by the Country Director for Nigeria, Mr Shubham Chaudhuri, on Monday during a panel session at the ongoing 26th Nigerian Economic Summit organised by the Nigerian Economic Summit Group and the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning.

Per capita income is a measure of the amount of money earned per person in a nation or geographic region, and is calculated by dividing the country’s national income by its population.

According to him, the decline in crude oil prices had dramatically impacted government finances, the balance of payments and remittances from Nigerians living abroad.

Chaudhuri also noted that the country was still recovering from the last oil price shock of 2014-2016 before the COVID-19 crisis hit the economy.

“The fact of the matter is [that] recovery was there but it was slow; it was only gathering pace,” he said.

Chaudhuri further noted that between 2015 and 2019, 15 million young Nigerians came of working age but only about four million really found the kinds of jobs and opportunities they aspired for.

In his words: “Crisis like this is often what it takes to bring a nation together to have that consensus within the political, business, government, military, civil society to say, ‘We have to do something that departs from business as usual.’

“And for Nigeria, this is a critical juncture. With the contraction in GDP that could happen this year, Nigeria’s per capital income could be around what it was in 1980 – four decades ago.”

Nigeria’s per capital income, which stood at $2,229.9 in 2019, was around $847.40 in 1980, according to data from the World Bank. It hit a record high of $3,222.69 in 2014 but fell to $1,968.56 in 2017.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here