Economy
The High Cost of Being Poor in Ethiopia
StockMarket.et · last week · Read the Full Story on StockMarket.et
AI SUMMARY
Poor households in Ethiopia face a poverty premium, paying disproportionately more for smaller quantities, daily purchases, credit, and transport because they lack cash and storage.
- Inflation in Ethiopia stood at 15.1 percent by August 2026, with food and non-alcoholic drinks rising 14.9 percent, and sugar, honey, and chocolate increasing by 38.3 percent.
- Poor households buy goods in tiny amounts at retail prices from mini shops rather than in bulk at standard market prices.
- Injera is more expensive per meal than buying teff by the quintal and milling it, but buying teff requires upfront cash and a functioning mitad.
- Only about 4 percent of Ethiopian households use electricity as their main cooking fuel, while the vast majority use charcoal because buying appliances like a mitad involves a high one-time cost.
- Grain prices swing significantly between the harvest season and the lean season, with lean-season prices running up to 36 percent higher.
- Small farmers are forced to sell their crops immediately after harvest due to lack of storage and urgent cash needs, buying back the same grain later at higher prices.
- While 49 percent of Ethiopian adults held a bank account in 2024, only about 4 percent borrowed from a formal institution and collateral demands average 296 percent of the loan amount.
- Microfinance borrowers face interest rates near 30 percent.
- Minibus fares in Addis Ababa increased significantly following fuel price rises, and operators frequently split long routes into shorter segments to charge passengers twice.
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