Changes in spending due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa 2020

Over 60 percent of the respondents in six selected African countries reported spending more of their income on essential goods, like food items, in November 2020. Meanwhile, 57 percent said they spent less on non-essential goods since the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The lowest share of respondents (16 percent) cited they spent about the same amount of their income on essentials items compared to the year before the health crisis, while a similar share of 18 percent declared having no change on expenditure for non-essentials.