Authorities in Togo say they will complete a major nationwide survey on household living conditions by the end of 2026, as the country works to update key data used to guide economic and social policies.
Officials made the commitment during a regional mid-term workshop on the third edition of the Harmonized Survey on Household Living Conditions, known as EHCVM3, currently being held in Lomé.
The meeting, which runs until March 13, has gathered around 60 statistical experts from member states of the West African Economic and Monetary Union, alongside representatives from partner institutions and development organisations.
The event is organised by the WAEMU Commission as part of the Harmonizing and Improving Statistics in West and Central Africa Project, a regional initiative funded by the World Bank covering the period 2023 to 2028.
Participants include statistical agencies from the eight WAEMU countries as well as observers from Guinea, the regional statistics body AFRISTAT, the Central Bank of West African States and the West African Development Bank.
The survey aims to generate detailed data on socio-economic conditions across West Africa, helping governments track poverty levels, living standards and access to essential services.
It is structured around three main components.
The household module collects information directly from families about income, expenditure, education, healthcare and employment, allowing statisticians to estimate poverty levels and economic well-being.
A second component focuses on communities, assessing infrastructure and the availability of public services such as schools, health facilities and transport networks in order to better contextualise household data.
The third element tracks prices of consumer goods in local markets, enabling economists to measure inflation trends and make seasonal adjustments so that data remains comparable across countries and over time.
While several WAEMU member states have already completed the first wave of data collection, Togo has experienced delays in launching the survey.
Authorities say internal logistical challenges slowed the initial rollout, leaving the country temporarily behind its regional peers.
However, officials insist the government remains committed to completing both waves of the survey before the end of next year.
“Measures have been taken to ensure that by the end of 2026, our country will have conducted both waves of the EHCVM3,” said Béguédouwé Paneto.
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Paneto said the timeline would ensure Togo complies with the WAEMU decision establishing the survey framework.
Preparations are already under way. Training for mapping agents and survey enumerators from the National Institute of Statistics and Economic and Demographic Studies began in Lomé on February 9.
Under the WAEMU directive adopted in October 2025, participating countries must complete both rounds of data collection before December 2026.
The survey is expected to play an important role in shaping public policy in Togo and across the region.
The previous edition, EHCVM-2 conducted between 2021 and 2022, showed significant progress in poverty reduction.
According to those results, monetary poverty in Togo fell to 43.8 percent, down from 45.5 percent in 2018 and 55.1 percent in 2015 — a decline of more than 11 percentage points over six years.
Multidimensional poverty, which measures deprivation across several areas such as health, education and living standards, also improved, falling from 37.1 percent to 28.9 percent.
Despite the progress, regional disparities remained significant, with the northern Savanes Region recording the highest poverty levels.
Officials say the new survey will provide updated indicators needed to assess the impact of economic and social reforms introduced since 2022.
The data will also help track progress toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and evaluate the outcomes of the government’s national development strategy, known as the Togo 2025 roadmap.
Authorities say completing the survey will give policymakers a clearer picture of living conditions across the country, enabling them to design more targeted poverty-reduction programmes and social policies.
