Minimum Wage in Nigeria 2026: ₦70,000, What Each State Pays and What It Really Buys

Nigeria's minimum wage is one of the most searched money questions in the country, and one of the most misunderstood. This guide sets out what the law says, who it covers, what each state pays, how far ₦70,000 goes at today's food prices, and what informal workers actually earn. Each figure has its source and month beside it.

What is the minimum wage in Nigeria in 2026?

The national minimum wage is ₦70,000 a month. President Tinubu signed the National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act on 29 July 2024, raising the floor from ₦30,000, an increase of over 133 per cent, according to ThisDay, October 2026. The same law cut the review cycle from every five years to every three years, as PaySpace's summary of the Act notes.

When is the next review?

In a letter dated 12 October 2026, Labour Minister Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi told the NLC that the review is due on 1 June 2027 and that starting earlier would be premature, according to ThisDay. The NLC wants talks to begin now. In May 2026 the NLC Lagos council asked for the Lagos State minimum wage to rise from ₦85,000 to ₦225,000, Nairametrics reported.

Who does the minimum wage cover?

This is the part most people get wrong. The minimum wage is not a floor for every worker in Nigeria. The 2019 Act, which the 2024 amendment kept in place, does not apply to:

• establishments with fewer than 25 workers;
• part-time workers;
• workers paid on commission or piece rate;
• seasonal workers, such as on farms.

Profolio's 2026 pay guides set out these exemptions, and a 2024 Vanguard report shows the tripartite committee wanted the 25-worker threshold cut to 10, which did not happen.

In practice this means a roadside workshop with four hands, a salon with three stylists, a family with one house help, and an artisan paid per job are all outside the law. A bank, a factory, a hotel chain or a large contractor is inside it.

What does each state pay its workers?

States set their own minimum for state civil servants. Nairametrics' state-by-state table, with data as of 30 April 2026, gives:

These are wages for state government workers. A state minimum does not bind private employers in that state.

How fast are prices rising in 2026?

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported on 15 October 2026 that, for September 2026:

• headline inflation was 14.63 per cent, down from 15.39 per cent in August;
• food inflation was 19.59 per cent;
• core inflation was 12.95 per cent;
• urban inflation was 15.64 per cent and rural inflation 12.46 per cent.

Source: Voice of Nigeria and Gazette Nigeria, both reporting the NBS release.

The averages hide big gaps between states. Lagos had the highest food inflation in the country at 34.40 per cent, and Imo had the highest headline inflation at 30.04 per cent. Taraba had the lowest on both, with food prices 7.47 per cent lower than a year earlier.

How much value has ₦70,000 lost?

When the law was signed, inflation was far higher. Headline inflation was 34.80 per cent in December 2024 and 15.15 per cent in December 2025, according to Nairametrics' report on the World Bank's April 2026 Nigeria Development Update. The NBS also changed its CPI base year in 2025, so comparisons across that change are rough, as Nairametrics noted in November 2025.

A simple illustration: at 15 per cent inflation a year, after two years ₦70,000 buys what about ₦53,000 bought at the start (₦70,000 divided by 1.15, then by 1.15 again). Because inflation was over 30 per cent in late 2024, the real loss since July 2024 is larger than that.

What can ₦70,000 buy in 2026?

The NBS Selected Food Prices Watch tracks average prices across the country. Using the most recent months reported:

Sources: rice from Legit.ng, May 2026; eggs from Nairametrics, May 2026; garri and beans from Nairametrics, June 2026; palm oil and tomatoes from Shipping Position, June 2026; petrol from the NBS Petrol Price Watch for May 2026 via Legit.ng.

Some prices did fall. Garri was about 40 per cent cheaper and beans about 45 per cent cheaper in April 2026 than a year earlier, the NBS data shows. Rice, tomatoes and petrol moved the other way in the first half of 2026.

Worked example: a month of basic food at NBS prices

Here is a simple basket for a small family. The quantities are our illustration, and the half bag of rice is priced at half the NBS bag price.

1. Half a bag (25kg) of local rice: ₦56,000.
2. 10kg of garri: 10 x ₦808.96 = ₦8,090.
3. 5kg of beans: 5 x ₦1,338.93 = ₦6,695.
4. 2 crates of eggs: 2 x ₦6,127.62 = ₦12,255.
5. 2 litres of palm oil: 2 x ₦2,396.62 = ₦4,793.
6. 3kg of tomatoes: 3 x ₦1,560.56 = ₦4,682.

Total: about ₦92,515, before rent, transport, school fees, light, pepper, onions, fish or meat. That is already ₦22,515 more than the national minimum wage, and ₦7,515 more than the Lagos State minimum.

How many Nigerians are poor?

The World Bank's April 2026 Nigeria Development Update put the poverty rate at 63 per cent in 2025, about 140 million people, up from 56 per cent in 2023 and 61 per cent in 2024. It expects a slow fall to about 59 per cent by 2028, and said household incomes had not grown fast enough to offset inflation, according to Nairametrics.

What do informal workers really earn?

Most Nigerians never see a payslip. The NBS Labour Force Survey for the second quarter of 2024 found that 93 per cent of employment was informal, and 85.6 per cent of working people were self-employed, Nairametrics reported. Informality was 97.5 per cent in rural areas and 90 per cent in towns. As of April 2026, the NBS had released no new Labour Force Survey since November 2024, Nairametrics noted.

So there is no recent official figure for informal earnings. The best evidence comes from price guides, job adverts and reporting:

Sources: Guardian housekeeper rates, Nairametrics on house helps, Profolio bricklayer guide, Profolio hairstylist guide, Nairametrics on the PaidHR survey.

A day rate is not a monthly wage

An artisan's day rate looks high next to ₦70,000, but they are rarely paid every day. Profolio's bricklayer guide makes the point clearly: at ₦14,000 a day, 22 working days is ₦308,000, but 10 days is ₦140,000. Out of that comes transport, tools, phone credit and the days when it rains or the client does not pay.

Worked example: is this daily pay fair?

To compare a daily rate with the minimum wage, divide the monthly figure by about 22 working days.

1. National minimum: ₦70,000 / 22 = about ₦3,182 a day.
2. Lagos State minimum: ₦85,000 / 22 = about ₦3,864 a day.

A cleaner paid ₦3,000 a day who spends ₦1,500 on transport, as the Guardian's example shows, takes home ₦1,500 for a full day. That is less than half of what the minimum wage works out to.

Do minimum wage earners pay tax in 2026?

Nigeria's new tax law took effect in January 2026. Under it, the first ₦800,000 of taxable income a year is not taxed, Nairametrics reported. ₦70,000 a month is ₦840,000 a year, so after pension and the rent relief, most people on the minimum wage pay no personal income tax.

What this means if you hire or work

If you hire informal workers:

• treat ₦3,182 a day as the very lowest pay to offer, even when the law does not bind you;
• add transport if the worker travels to you;
• agree pay, hours and duties in writing before work starts;
• pay on the day you promised.

If you work for yourself:

• price your day rate for the days you actually work, not 30 days;
• separate labour from materials on every quote;
• keep records of what you earn, so you can show them to a bank or a client.

On Gikswork, employers post a job with the pay up front, and the money is held in escrow, secured by EscrowPay, until the work is done, so a worker knows the pay is there before starting. Workers pay a 10 per cent fee on their pay, so on a ₦7,000 job the worker gets ₦6,300, and joining is free. You can post a job, join as a worker or read about our fees.

Sources

• ThisDay, Minimum wage review due in June 2027, FG tells Labour, 16 October 2026
• PaySpace, Nigeria National Minimum Wage (Amendment) Act 2024
• Nairametrics, Minimum wage 2026: what every state in Nigeria pays, 1 May 2026
• Nairametrics, NLC demands ₦225,000 minimum wage for Lagos workers, 1 May 2026
• Vanguard, Workers that won't benefit from minimum wage, 25 July 2024
• Profolio, Plumber pay guide 2026
• Voice of Nigeria, Headline inflation drops to 14.63 per cent, 16 October 2026
• Gazette Nigeria, September 2026 inflation report, October 2026
• Nairametrics, Inflation rate drops to 16.05% in October 2025
• Legit.ng, Local rice now costs ₦112,000 per 50kg bag, 7 May 2026
• Nairametrics, Food prices for March 2026, NBS
• Nairametrics, NBS garri and beans prices for April 2026
• Shipping Position, NBS food prices for May 2026, 29 June 2026
• Legit.ng, NBS petrol price for May 2026
• Nairametrics, Poverty rate hits 63% in 2025, World Bank, 10 April 2026
• Nairametrics, NBS Labour Force Survey Q2 2024, 26 November 2024
• Nairametrics, Only 10.5% of Nigerian women have paid jobs, 6 April 2026
• Nairametrics, Average Lagos worker earns ₦60,000 monthly, PaidHR report, 16 August 2024
• Nairametrics, No income tax for earners below ₦800,000 from 2026, 15 October 2025
• The Guardian, Housekeeper daily room cleaning amount in Nigeria, 11 April 2026
• Profolio, Bricklayer pay guide 2026
• Profolio, Hairstylist pay guide 2026