Report: 65% of businesses in Nigeria increased prices in 2024 to stay afloat

65 percent of businesses increased the prices of their goods and services in the year 2024, according to a report by Nigerian data company, Mustard Insights. The findings, based on a survey of over 100 business owners, executives, and industry leaders, offer a comprehensive look at how this year’s challenging economic conditions affected organizations of […]

65 percent of businesses increased the prices of their goods and services in the year 2024, according to a report by Nigerian data company, Mustard Insights.

The findings, based on a survey of over 100 business owners, executives, and industry leaders, offer a comprehensive look at how this year’s challenging economic conditions affected organizations of varying sizes.

2024 was  a challenging year for businesses operating in Nigeria. The country’s economy faced significant disruptions following the removal of fuel subsidies, the devaluation of the Naira, a surge in inflation, amongst others.

These factors contributed to skyrocketing costs of essential commodities such as food, power, and transportation, making survival a daunting task for both individuals and businesses.

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 Many companies had to put their expansion plans on hold, while some were forced to shut down, divest, or report major losses.

The report titled Nigeria’s Business Survival Report 2024: Strategies for Sustainable Business Growth Amid Economic Turbulence, first provided a broad macroeconomic overview as well as a schematic visualisation of the combination of factors responsible for the country’s cost of living crisis.

The report  also offered a comprehensive analysis of how businesses performed between 2023 and 2024, detailing how the economic downturn affected revenue, direct costs, job retention, amongst others while also providing industry sentiment and projected outlook from business owners and top executives. Additionally, it presents insights into the strategic responses companies adopted to navigate the tough market conditions.

Some other key insights derived from the survey include: 85.4percent  of companies reported a substantial increase in business costs due to inflation. 

43.7 percent  of Business Owners Reduced Their Workforce.

41.7 Percent  of businesses diversified their product/service offerings and 46.6% of businesses failed to meet growth targets, amongst others.

While the findings in the report are derived from extensive research and the direct input of business leaders, entrepreneurs, and industry stakeholders, it also covers in-depth comparative analysis of Q3 results for the last three-year period (2022, 2023, and 2024) to assess comparative changes in revenue, direct costs, total expenses, and salaries of a sample of Nigeria’s top-listed companies on the NGX-30.