Nigeria’s population of dollar millionaires has risen for the first time since 2021, increasing 12.5 percent to 8,100 in June 2026 from 7,200 a year earlier, according to data from global wealth intelligence firm New World Wealth sent to BusinessDay.
The rebound follows years of wealth losses linked partly to sharp naira devaluations. Nigeria lost about 1,600 millionaires in 2024 and another 200 in 2023.
“The number of millionaires in the country is up from last year, which is positive. The rise over the past year is mainly due to the strength of the naira against the US dollar and solid new business growth,” Andrew Amoils, head of research at New World Wealth, said.
However, he noted that “the currency has still performed very poorly over the full decade.”
Despite the latest recovery, Nigeria’s millionaire population has fallen 46 percent from 15,000 in 2013. It has also declined 33 percent over the past decade, the steepest fall among Africa’s five biggest wealth markets.
The recovery has coincided with gains in Nigeria’s capital market. NGX Group CEO Temi Popoola recently said reforms under President Bola Tinubu had created an estimated 500,000 to 900,000 naira millionaires through capital-market gains.
“Mr President, tied to all these is a lot of wealth that has been created for many people. We don’t have exact figures, but we estimate that about 500,000 to 900,000 millionaires have been created as a result of reforms,” he said.
Popoola’s figure differs from New World Wealth’s measure, which counts people with at least $1 million in liquid wealth.
Nigeria currently has 22 centi-millionaires, up from 20 a year earlier, while its number of billionaires remains at three.
The rebound has been supported by a more stable naira, stronger economic growth, rising asset values, corporate earnings and new business activity.
The latest increase signals a recovery, although Nigeria’s millionaire population remains below its 2013 peak.
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