Poverty and Income Inequality in Nigeria: An Illustration of Lorenz Curve from NBS Survey

Abstract

This study adopted the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics survey to examine poverty and income inequality in Nigeria. The objective was to examine the rate of poverty and income distribution in Nigeria using the Lorenz curve and Gain coefficient. Food poverty line, absolute poverty line, subjective poverty measure and dollar per day poverty line were used to measure poverty while Gani coefficient was used to measure income inequality. Findings reveal that significant proportions of Nigerian population are living below the poverty line adopted in this study. The study also found that there is wide gap between the rich and the poor in Nigeria. The study recommend implementable polices to reduce poverty and reduce income inequality in Nigeria.