Nigeria, Lagos

Overview

Nigeria, Lagos Lagos is a port and the most populous city in Nigeria. Lagos is Nigeria's most prosperous city, and much of the nation's wealth and economic activity are concentrated there. Most commercial, financial and business centres of Lagos and of Nigeria remains at the central business district in Lagos Island which is also typified with the presence of high rise buildings.

Nigeria is in Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Benin and Cameroon. The climate varies between equatorial in the south, tropical in the centre, and arid in the north.

The official language is English. It is the main business language. ‘Pidgin' English is also widely spoken. The main religions are Islam, Christianity and indigenous beliefs.

The economy of Nigeria is one of the fastest growing in the world but is struggling to leverage the country's vast wealth in fossil fuels in order to displace the crushing poverty that affects about 57 percent of its population. The oil sector provides 80% of GDP, 95% of foreign exchange earnings, and about 65% of government revenues.

Nigerians are generally friendly and welcoming to expatriates and foreign visitors. Expatriate business dress is generally formal. This is usually in the form of suits and ties for men, and suits or separates for women.

The security risk for expatriates in Nigeria is high, but extreme in the north. Risks include petty crime, armed crime, carjacking, while in the north risks include shootings, bombings, and kidnappings, and in the Niger delta region risks include kidnap-for-ransom, carjacking's, armed robberies and illegal roadblocks. Other risks include internal flight safety.

The currency of Nigeria is the Nigerian Naira (NGN). Nigeria is still mainly a cash based economy although the use of credit and debit cards is increasing. It is illegal to change money on the street. Credit card fraud is common. Check with your card issuer if you intend to use your international credit or debit card in Nigeria.

Medical facilities are generally below international standards and in some parts may only be very basic. Serious tropical illnesses such as malaria, typhoid, lassa fever and yellow fever occur.

The population of Lagos is 21 Million (Metro) (2019 est.), while the inflation rate (CPI) is 11.24% for Nigeria as at September 2019.

Xpatulator Hypothetical Tax for Nigeria is based on the current personal income tax rates which are progressive up to 24%.

Cost Of Living

The cost of living for expatriates / professional migrants in Lagos as at 1 October 2019 is high in comparison to other places in the world.

We have collected prices for the same items, world wide, and converted them to $USD so that we can compare the cost of 13 different baskets in 780 global locations. For each basket, compared to New York, the equivalent cost in Lagos is as follows:
1) Alcohol (where available) & Tobacco: for items such as beer, spirits, wine and tobacco related products such as cigarettes. A basket costing USD$1000 in New York costs USD$510
2) Clothing: for items such as business, casual and children's clothing and footwear. A basket costing USD$1000 in New York costs USD$670
3) Communication: for various communication costs such as home telephone rental, internet subscription, mobile service provider tariff and data costs. A basket costing USD$200 in New York costs USD$166
4) Education: for items such as creche / pre-school fees, primary school fees, high school fees and tertiary study fees. A basket costing USD$30000 in New York costs USD$26100
5) Furniture & Appliances: for items such as dining table and chairs, home entertainment, kitchen appliances, and sofas. A basket costing USD$2500 in New York costs USD$3125
6) Groceries: for items such as consumables, cleaning products, dairy, fresh fruit & vegetables, general food products, snacks, soft drinks. A basket costing USD$1000 in New York costs USD$850
7) Healthcare: for general heath care, doctor visits, hospital stays, non-prescription medicine, and medical insurance. A basket costing USD$1000 in New York costs USD$720
8) Household Accommodation: for items such as apartment rent, house rent, property purchase, mortgage rate, and utilities. A basket costing USD$5000 in New York costs USD$4050
9) Miscellaneous: for items such as dry cleaning, linen, magazines, newspapers, office supplies, and postage stamps. A basket costing USD$500 in New York costs USD$705
10) Personal Care: for items such as cosmetics, hair care, and toiletries. A basket costing USD$500 in New York costs USD$405
11) Recreation & Culture: for items such as books, cinema, sport and theatre tickets. A basket costing USD$500 in New York costs USD$335
12) Restaurants Meals Out and Hotels: for items such as hotel daily room rates, meals and beverages in a restaurant, and take away food and beverages. A basket costing USD$1000 in New York costs USD$630
13) Transport: for items such as fuel (petrol/gasoline), car hire, public transport, vehicle purchase and maintenance. A basket costing USD$1000 in New York costs USD$560

Lagos is 32.1% more expensive than Houston TX for groceries, 90.2% more expensive for household costs than Kuala Lumpur, and -5.8% cheaper for transport costs than Dubai.

Lagos is ranked as a extreme hardship location.

The hardship premium for Lagos for an expat from Perth, is for example 20%, i.e. host location (Lagos) premium of 30% minus home (Perth) location premium of 10%.

Want to know more about cost of living, hardship (quality of living) or expat salary in Lagos? Register subscribe to your home location and Lagos and run your personalised reports.

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The cost of living for expatriates / professional migrants in Lagos as at 1 October 2019 is high in comparison to other places in the world.

Lagos is ranked as a extreme hardship location.