Poverty and living standards in Benue, Nigeria: official figures
75.0% of people in Benue were multidimensionally poor in the 2022 Nigeria Multidimensional Poverty Index (survey 2021/22), about 4.71 million people. That rate is 12th highest of the 36 states and the FCT; the national rate was 63%.
How severe is poverty in Benue?
Benue's 4.71 million poor people are 3.5% of the 133 million multidimensionally poor people in Nigeria. On average a poor person in Benue is deprived in 41.6% of the weighted indicators (the intensity of poverty), giving an MPI value of 0.312.
Source: National Bureau of Statistics · saved copyHow many children in Benue live in poverty?
Children are hit harder: 77.9% of under-18s in Benue are multidimensionally poor, against 72.5% of adults.
Source: National Bureau of Statistics · saved copyWhat do poor households in Benue go without?
The most common deprivations among poor people in Benue are cooking with wood, charcoal or dung, a health facility more than 30 minutes away and no improved toilet: 66.4%, 64.8% and 63.4% of all residents are both poor and affected.
Source: National Bureau of Statistics · saved copyDo poor families in Benue have clean water and toilets?
54.3% of residents are poor and lack safe drinking water, 63.4% are poor and lack an improved toilet, and 66.4% are poor and cook with wood, charcoal or dung.
Source: National Bureau of Statistics · saved copyHow does insecurity affect poor families in Benue?
12.2% of people in Benue are both poor and live in a household that suffered a security shock such as theft, kidnapping or attack in the previous year.
Source: National Bureau of Statistics · saved copyHow many displaced people are there in Benue?
394,567 internally displaced people in 70,597 households were counted in Benue in 2023, 11.67% of the 3,381,228 recorded in the 14 states tracked by the NBS and IOM.
Source: National Bureau of Statistics · saved copyHow Benue compares with other states
Multidimensionally poor (share of people) (2021/22)
Benue ranks 12 of 37, highest first.
| Rank | Region | Multidimensionally poor (share of people) |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Ebonyi | 78.0% |
| 10 | Zamfara | 78.0% |
| 11 | Cross River | 75.4% |
| 12 | Benue | 75.0% |
| 13 | Bauchi | 73.9% |
| 14 | Kaduna | 73.9% |
| 15 | Katsina | 72.7% |
More on Benue: overview · economy and jobs · health · education and schools · government budget · Nigeria
Sources
- National Bureau of Statistics: Nigeria Multidimensional Poverty Index (2022), Appendix D tables by state, read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 26498590b192…)
- National Bureau of Statistics: Demographic Bulletin 2023 datasheet, Annex 3: projected population by state, 2023 (NPC); Annex 8: internally displaced persons by state (NBS/IOM), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 6764616bf151…)
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