People living below the poverty line according to the National Bureau of Statistics are individuals whose per capita living expenditure is below 137,340 naira per year. Over 82.9 million Nigerians are considered poor by national standards.

The largest share of female household heads living in poverty are those involved in agriculture alone, it takes up a total of 37.75%. Those in diversified occupations take up 31.54% of female household heads living in poverty. Females involved in apprenticeship/not working at all and non-farm enterprise only follow with 24.13% and 19.45% respectively. Those involved in wage work only have the lowest poverty rate percentage of 13.99%.