A new survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says the most prevalent shock affecting Nigeria is price increases. This was said to have affected about 71 per cent.
The survey, 2023/24 General Household Survey-Panel, commonly called (GHS-Panel) Wave-5, is a follow-up to the 2018/2019 GHS Wave-4.
It seeks to enhance the understanding of household living conditions and provide policymakers with reliable information for effective policy decision-making in Nigeria.
It specifically collects information on household income, assets and consumption, income-generating activities, health, education as well as shocks.
The survey conducted in collaboration with the World Bank and released yesterday said 48.8 per cent of households surveyed reported that their main mechanism for coping with the increase in the prices of food items is a cut in consumption.
The report further said that 65.8 per cent of the households indicated being unable to eat healthy, nutritious or preferred foods because of low income.
The report also shows that 73 per cent of survey household members ages 10 to 19 were enrolled in school during the 2018/2019 Wave 4 survey. But by the 2023/2024 Wave 5 survey, the proportion of the people who were in school had fallen to 44.8 per cent, as 34.8 per cent of those previously enrolled were out of school.
The survey shows that only 40.4 per cent of households in rural areas had access to electricity compared to 82.2 per cent of urban households. It also reports that many households lack toilet facilities and rely on tube wells or boreholes for drinking water.
According to the study, waste disposal is mostly informal, with 45.6 per cent using bushes or streets.
In his address during the launch of the report, the Statistician General of the Federation (SGF), Adeyemi Adeniran, said the survey was a multi-topic data collection exercise that served as an essential tool for capturing the dynamics of Nigerian households, providing invaluable insights into their economic activities, well-being and resilience.
He said it is a longitudinal survey, meaning that it tracks and interviews the same respondents over time.
“In the 5th Wave of the survey, approximately the same 5000 households have been followed and interviewed across five waves. This includes Wave One conducted in 2010/11, Wave Two in 2012/13, Wave Three in 2015/16, Wave Four in 2018/19 and now Wave Five conducted in 2023/24,” he said.
In his goodwill message, the World Bank’s Country Director for Nigeria, Dr Ndiame Diop, said the survey was important in understanding how Nigerian households responded to policy changes, crises and shocks.
Diop, who was represented by Programme Leader, Sustainable Development, Nigeria, Vinay Vutukuru, said the key thing was how the data would be used by ministries and stakeholders for effective policy formulation to achieve economic growth.
