Nigeria has dropped 12 places to 56th among the world’s 60 lowest-ranked countries in Global Finance’s 2026 ranking based on GDP per capita at purchasing power parity (PPP).
The ranking puts Nigeria’s PPP-adjusted GDP per capita at $9,532.92, compared with 44th position in the 2025 edition. The latest figures place Africa’s most populous country near the bottom of the global ranking despite its position as one of the continent’s largest economies.
The PPP measure adjusts GDP for differences in the cost of living between countries, making it useful for comparing the purchasing power associated with average economic output. However, GDP per capita is an average and does not directly measure how income or wealth is distributed among households.
Nigeria’s position also comes against a backdrop of continued economic pressure on households, including elevated living costs and weak purchasing power. At the bottom of the ranking, Burundi recorded the lowest GDP per capita at $994.23, followed by the Central African Republic and South Sudan. Nine of the 10 countries at the bottom of the table are African, with Yemen the only non-African country.
For investors, the ranking highlights the challenge of converting Nigeria’s large economic output into stronger per-person purchasing power. Weak household purchasing power can weigh on consumer demand and create challenges for businesses targeting mass-market consumers.
The figures should therefore be viewed as a comparative snapshot rather than a standalone measure of Nigeria’s poverty level or economic performance. Future inflation, exchange-rate conditions, real income growth and economic expansion will remain important indicators of whether household purchasing power improves.
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