Officially, the region of the far North is the most populated of Cameroon, followed by the Centre. Its population is estimated at 4,803,414 inhabitants or 17.9% of the total population of Cameroon. In this region where there is Boko Haram, poverty is at its peak.

According to a study conducted by the Ministry of the economy, the Plan and planning under the technical supervision of the national Institute of statistics, in 2007, the proportion of the population living below the poverty line increased from 18.8 to 24.6 between 2001 and 2007 in the region of the far North. "The poor have become poorer," it reads. While in the same period, at the national level there were down 0.3 point.

At the far North, poverty is more pronounced in rural areas. This document also notes that the rate of unemployment is rampant in this region and even remained below the average national (67% vs. 38%). The report indicates that in the far North, young people aged 15-24 participate to the labour market, but are in reality in disguised unemployment.

The region of the far North is therefore the poorest throughout Cameroon. 65.9% of its population is bathed in an ambient poverty. Its young population, one of the largest of Cameroon, is under educated: 28.9%, the lowest rate of Cameroon.

It is in the region of the extreme north where in 2010, floods kept people in the street that Boko Haram has chosen to settle. The sect took advantage of this young medium poverty to recruit these desperate teens. Today, Boko Haram is presented as the largest employer of the region.