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Gaya

Imagine earning ₦500,000 every month in today’s Nigeria. Rent takes ₦150,000 (to eventually total the ₦1.8 million you’re paying annually), and groceries gulp another ₦120,000. Then transportation alone costs ₦60,000, while electricity, data, and other subscriptions come to about ₦45,000. And then whatever is left goes to <a href="https://aura.ng/culture/the-responsible-child-curse-when-being-good-costs-you-everything">family responsibilities</a>, emergencies, and the miscellaneous expenses that will certainly creep up on you.

Traditionally, the middle class refers to people who can comfortably afford necessities like housing, healthcare, education, and transportation while still having enough left to save, invest, or enjoy a few luxuries. But in today’s Nigeria, that definition feels increasingly out of reach because now, inflation is staring both you and your ₦500,000 salary in the eye.

Suddenly, ₦500,000 doesn’t feel like ₦500,000 anymore. There’s no money left to save, invest, or even just indulge yourself the way you probably could have a few years ago. Just like that, you’re forced into survival mode for the rest of the month until your pay cheque arrives again.

Granted, location and responsibilities play a role. For instance, a family man earning ₦500,000 a month in Lagos may feel financially worse off than someone earning much less in a city with a lower cost of living. But the increasing cost of basic necessities like fuel, electricity, and food is universal.

Presently, the problem is no longer how much you earn. It has become what you can afford to do with your salary. Although there’s no universally accepted income range for Nigeria’s <a href="https://aura.ng/culture/why-i-closed-my-fashion-business-after-just-one-year">middle class</a>, many estimates place it somewhere between roughly ₦150,000 and ₦600,000 in monthly income. So, if your ₦500,000 salary can barely keep up with your living costs, it’s either you are no longer in the middle class or the middle class no longer exists.

Someone once said that in today’s Nigeria, it is either you are rich or you are poor. She said you are rich if you can afford three square meals. Then I asked her what she’d now call people who can still afford luxury. She said they are influential! And I believe many others would agree with her.

How about you? What monthly income still qualifies as middle class in Nigeria today? More importantly, after paying your <a href="https://aura.ng/life-and-love/the-cost-of-independence-why-financially-free-women-still-struggle-in-relationships-">bills</a> every month, do you actually feel middle class?

Is ₦500,000 still enough to live comfortably in Nigeria? Here’s why many believe the country’s middle class is slowly disappearing.


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