How much is a Comfortable Entry
Level Salary in Nigeria in 2013 and
How Many People Earn Just That?


In many online forums the
discussion on what is an acceptable
salary is always ongoing. While
inflation and other factors
contribute to a growing cost of
living in Nigeria and other parts of
Africa salaries and wages
unfortunately do not always rise
along.
In 2013 things do not look like they
are getting better in terms of cost
of living. Things like rent, food,
rates (power, water) etc keep
increasing in cost.
Therefore the question arises,
”What is the average amount the
average starting Nigerian worker
can earn in 2013 for it to be an
acceptable salary given the
prevailing economic conditions?”
What will be seen as an average
acceptable entry level salary across
telecom, oil and gas, services,
education and indeed all sectors for
a worker to be able to afford an
acceptable standard of living? How
Many People Already Earn a
Comfortable Starting Salary in
Nigeria?
We took the time to research and
look into the answer to the above
questions. In compiling our answers
we interviewed several workers
(that can be classified as middle
class or average in income levels),
scoured through tons of online
discussions on the issue and
conducted third party research.
While it may be difficult to claim a
general average salary that will be
good enough for all interests we
explored and bring to you what we
have found to be a reasonable
estimation of what an average
salary should be for Nigerians in
2013. But the fact is that what we
put forward may be far from the
reality on ground!
To get a hang of what a suitable
average salary could be we first
look at the basic costs of living
facing the average worker;
- Housing: For someone living in an
apartment that is just okay enough
we estimate a monthly cost of
N12,000 – N15,000
- Transportation: N10,000
- Feeding: depends on the number
of stomachs dependent on the
entry level worker but we estimate
between 1 – 3 persons depending
on the worker for food daily. If cost
of feeding each person a day is
average N400 (could be far higher
of course if meals are eaten out at
restaurants) we arrive at N400 for
each person per day maximum
and multiply that by 3 persons and
by thirty to get N36,000
- Welfare (clothing, entertainment
etc): We can assume N20,000
monthly will do for this
- Miscellaneous (to cover other
wants, and expenses that may
need to be made including
savings): N50,000
The above (very generous
estimations) give a total N131, 000
on the extreme side for average
entry level salary all things being
equal, for the average Nigerian
worker with at least a Higher
National Diploma.
The real situation
From our findings the average
salary scale for entry level workers
(Degree/HND Holders) for some
popular sectors and the percentage
of the workforce they employ is as
follows;
Oil & Gas (2%): N100, 000 – N140,
000
Telecom/IT (7%): N70, 000 – N110,
000
Banking & Financial Services (13%)
– N50, 000 – N100, 000
Hospitality, Media, Services Sector
(33%) – N30, 000 – N60, 000
Others (55%) – N15, 000 – N45, 000
From the above we deduce that
majority of Nigerian workers at the
entry level earn far below what
would pass as a highly acceptable
average salary given today’s
economic situation.
We acknowledge the use of the
following sources;
- Payscale
- Nairaland and a couple other
discussion forums on career related
issues
- Salary ranges on over 1,500 job
vacancies published with us in the
past one year
Culled from ngcareers.com