LSMS Household Business Indicators for Sub-Saharan Africa 2014-2024
Harmonized Dataset
Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria...and 2 more, 2014 - 2025
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Reference ID
AFR_2014-2024_LSMS-HBI_v01_M
Producer(s)
Jiapei Zhang, Ivette Contreras, Amparo Palacios-Lopez
Collection(s)
Metadata
Created on
Sep 28, 2026
Last modified
Sep 28, 2026
Page views
192
Downloads
7
Identification
Survey ID number
AFR_2014-2024_LSMS-HBI_v01_M
Title
LSMS Household Business Indicators for Sub-Saharan Africa 2014-2024
Subtitle
Harmonized Dataset
Abbreviation or Acronym
LSMS-HBI 2014-24
Country/Economy
| Name | Country code |
|---|---|
| Ethiopia | ETH |
| Malawi | MWI |
| Nigeria | NGA |
| Tanzania | TZA |
| Uganda | UGA |
Study type
Living Standards Measurement Study [hh/lsms]
Abstract
The LSMS Household Business Indicators for Sub-Saharan Africa (LSMS-HBI) is a harmonized dataset of indicators measuring household business activity and employment across five Sub-Saharan African countries: Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Uganda. The dataset was constructed from existing nationally representative household surveys — specifically, the Living Standards Measurement Study – Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA) panel surveys — and covers the two most recently conducted survey waves per country, enabling both cross-country comparisons and temporal analyses.
The primary purpose of the dataset is to provide researchers, policymakers, and data users with a consistent, comparable set of measures on the prevalence, characteristics, financing, formalization, constraints, and financial performance of household businesses, as well as the structure, demographics, and earnings of the broader workforce. The indicators are designed to support analysis of the role of household businesses in economic development, job creation, and household welfare in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The primary purpose of the dataset is to provide researchers, policymakers, and data users with a consistent, comparable set of measures on the prevalence, characteristics, financing, formalization, constraints, and financial performance of household businesses, as well as the structure, demographics, and earnings of the broader workforce. The indicators are designed to support analysis of the role of household businesses in economic development, job creation, and household welfare in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Kind of Data
Sample survey data [ssd]
Unit of Analysis
Household and individual
Version
Version Description
Version 01: Edited, anonymized dataset for public distribution.
Version Date
2026-09-24
Version Notes
Harmonized dataset derived from survey data.
Coverage
Geographic Coverage
National coverage
Producers and sponsors
Primary investigators
| Name | Affiliation |
|---|---|
| Jiapei Zhang | World Bank Group |
| Ivette Contreras | World Bank Group |
| Amparo Palacios-Lopez | World Bank Group |
Data collection
Dates of Data Collection
| Start | End | Cycle |
|---|---|---|
| 2018-09 | 2019-08 | Ethiopia Wave 4 |
| 2021-09 | 2022-06 | Ethiopia Wave 5 |
| 2019-04 | 2020-03 | Malawi Wave 4 |
| 2024-07 | 2025-01 | Malawi Wave 5 |
| 2018-07 | 2019-02 | Nigeria Wave 4 |
| 2023-07 | 2024-03 | Nigeria Wave 5 |
| 2014-10 | 2015-10 | Tanzania Wave 4 |
| 2020-12 | 2022-01 | Tanzania Wave 5 |
| 2018-02 | 2019-02 | Uganda Wave 7 |
| 2019-03 | 2020-02 | Uganda Wave 8 |
Data Access
Access conditions
Before being granted access to the dataset, all users have to formally agree:
- To make no copies of any files or portions of files to which s/he is granted access except those authorized by the data depositor.
- Not to use any technique in an attempt to learn the identity of any person, establishment, or sampling unit not identified on public use data files.
- To hold in strictest confidence the identification of any establishment or individual that may be inadvertently revealed in any documents or discussion, or analysis. Such inadvertent identification revealed in her/his analysis will be immediately brought to the attention of the data depositor.
Citation requirements
Use of the dataset must be acknowledged using a citation which would include:
- The identification of the primary investigators
- The title of the survey (including country, acronym, and year of implementation)
- The survey reference number
- The source and date of download
Disclaimer and copyrights
Disclaimer
The user of the data acknowledges that the original collector of the data, the authorized distributor of the data, and the relevant funding agency bear no responsibility for use of the data or for interpretations or inferences based upon such uses.
Contacts
Contacts
| Name | Affiliation | |
|---|---|---|
| Amparo Palacios-Lopez | Development Research Group, World Bank Group | apalacioslopez@worldbank.org |
| Ivette Contreras | Development Research Group, World Bank Group | icontreras@worldbankgroup.org |
| Jiapei Zhang | Development Research Group, World Bank Group | jzhang30@worldbank.org |
Metadata production
DDI Document ID
DDI_AFR_2014-2024_LSMS-HBI_v01_M
Producers
| Name | Abbreviation | Affiliation | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Development Data Group | DECDG | World Bank Group | Documentation of the survey |
Metadata version
DDI Document version
Version 01 (September 2026)