97% of Nigerian bank accounts don’t have over N500,000

An overwhelmingly large number of Nigerians do not have up to half a million in their bank accounts, according to a government data, a telling statistic that highlights the country’s high poverty level.

The report by the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) seen by Pluboard says of 175.6 million bank accounts in the country in 2021, only 2.69% held over N500,000 ($1,220 at 2021 exchange rate).

The vast majority of the accounts – 97.31% — had N500,000 and below, a stark reflection of the poverty situation in the country.

The number of Nigerians living in poverty stood at over 133 million in 2022, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, representing 63% of the population. The minimum wage is N30,000.

– Fully insured

The NDIC report evaluated the number of accounts covered by insurance. The maximum guaranteed insurance for depositors in the event of a commercial bank failure is half a million naira.

The data means that in the event of a bank collapse, 97.3% of depositors will get their money back in full.

The figure was an improvement over the previous four years.

Between 2017 and 2021, while the number of banks accounts rose from 99.1 million to 175.6 million, the percentage of those with 500,000 and below fell from 97.6% to 97.3%.

“It is pertinent to note that 97.31 per cent of total accounts were fully insured at the coverage level of N500,000 and below at end-December 2021, compared with 97.40 per cent at end-December 2020,” the report said.