Poverty and living standards in Sokoto, Nigeria: official figures
90.5% of people in Sokoto were multidimensionally poor in the 2022 Nigeria Multidimensional Poverty Index (survey 2021/22), about 5.81 million people. That rate is the highest of the 36 states and the FCT; the national rate was 63%.
How severe is poverty in Sokoto?
Sokoto's 5.81 million poor people are 4.4% of the 133 million multidimensionally poor people in Nigeria. On average a poor person in Sokoto is deprived in 45.2% of the weighted indicators (the intensity of poverty), giving an MPI value of 0.409.
Source: National Bureau of Statistics · saved copyHow many children in Sokoto live in poverty?
Children are hit harder: 92.4% of under-18s in Sokoto are multidimensionally poor, against 88.4% of adults.
Source: National Bureau of Statistics · saved copyWhat do poor households in Sokoto go without?
The most common deprivations among poor people in Sokoto are cooking with wood, charcoal or dung, poor housing materials and no improved toilet: 84.8%, 78.5% and 62.1% of all residents are both poor and affected.
Source: National Bureau of Statistics · saved copyDo poor families in Sokoto have clean water and toilets?
52.4% of residents are poor and lack safe drinking water, 62.1% are poor and lack an improved toilet, and 84.8% are poor and cook with wood, charcoal or dung.
Source: National Bureau of Statistics · saved copyHow does insecurity affect poor families in Sokoto?
30.9% of people in Sokoto 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 Sokoto?
67,936 internally displaced people in 13,123 households were counted in Sokoto in 2023, 2.01% of the 3,381,228 recorded in the 14 states tracked by the NBS and IOM.
Source: National Bureau of Statistics · saved copyHow Sokoto compares with other states
Multidimensionally poor (share of people) (2021/22)
Sokoto ranks 1 of 37, highest first.
| Rank | Region | Multidimensionally poor (share of people) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sokoto | 90.5% |
| 2 | Bayelsa | 88.5% |
| 3 | Gombe | 86.2% |
| 4 | Jigawa | 84.3% |
| 5 | Plateau | 84.0% |
| 6 | Yobe | 83.5% |
| 7 | Kebbi | 82.2% |
More on Sokoto: 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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