The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has disclosed that 4,792,296 Nigerians, representing 5.4 percent of the working-age population, were unemployed in 2023.
In a press statement on Tuesday in Abuja, NBS Director of Communications and Public Relations, Sunday J. Ichedi, noted that women accounted for 52 percent of this unemployed population, while men constituted 48 percent.
According to the 2023 Annual and Q1 2024 Nigeria Labour Force Survey (NLFS) results, the NBS reported that the working-age population in 2023 was 116.6 million, accounting for 53.8 percent of the total population.
The annual Labour Force Participation rate was 76.3%, equivalent to 88.9 million individuals. Bauchi State recorded the highest participation rate at 92.3%, while Ekiti State had the lowest at 63.4%.
Employment Statistics
The NBS stated that of the total working-age population in 2023, 84.1 million individuals were employed, including 20.6 million persons aged 15 to 24.
The national employment-to-population ratio stood at 72.2% in 2023, with rural areas significantly outperforming urban areas at 77.3% compared to 68.7%. Bauchi State had the highest employment-to-population ratio at 88.4%, while Rivers State recorded the lowest at 55.7%. By sex, the employment-to-population ratio was 73.7% for males and 70.7% for females.
Informal Employment
In 2023, 77.6 million individuals were engaged in informal employment, which accounted for 92.2% of the employed population. Kano State had the highest number of informal workers, with about 5.2 million individuals engaged in informal employment, followed by Lagos State with 4.6 million (excluding agriculture).
Unemployment and Underemployment
The headline unemployment rate at the national level was 5.4% in 2023. At the state level, Abia recorded the highest unemployment rate at 18.7%, while Nasarawa had the lowest at 0.5%.
In terms of educational attainment, the unemployment rate was highest at 9.4% among individuals with post-secondary education, followed by those with secondary education at 6.7%, and those with primary education at 4.1%. The rate was lowest for those with no formal qualification at 3.2%.
National time-related underemployment stood at 11.1%, with 8.3% for men and 13.4% for women. Plateau State had the highest time-related underemployment at 33.9%, while Nasarawa recorded the lowest at 0.3%.
Youth Employment Statistics
The Youth NEET (Not in Employment, Education, or Training) rate was 15.6%, with Abia State recording the highest NEET rate at 38.1%, and Zamfara State the lowest at 4.5%.
Q1 2024 Highlights
The Q1 2024 Labour Force Survey indicated a decline in the labour force participation rate among the working-age population to 77.3%, down from 79.5% in Q3 2023.
The employment-to-population ratio in Q1 2024 was 73.2%, a decrease of 2.4 percentage points compared to 75.6% in Q3 2023. The ratio in urban areas was 69.5%, while it was 78.9% in rural areas.
The proportion of workers in wage employment rose to 16.0% in Q1 2024, a 3.3 percentage point increase from 12.7% in Q3 2023. By gender, 20.1% of males were in wage employment compared to 12.1% of females. Wage employment was higher in urban areas (21.8%) than in rural areas (8.1%).
Unemployment Trends
The unemployment rate increased to 5.3% in Q1 2024, up from 5.0% in Q3 2023. The rate was 6.0% in urban areas and 4.3% in rural areas for Q1 2024.
Educational Attainment and Youth Unemployment
Unemployment based on educational attainment in Q1 2024 shows that the unemployment rate among individuals with post-graduate education was 2.0%, 9.0% among those with post-secondary education, 6.9% for those with secondary education, and 4.0% among those with primary education.
The unemployment rate among youth aged 15-24 years was 8.4% in Q1 2024, a slight decrease of 0.2% compared to Q3 2023.
Underemployment and NEET Rates
Time-related underemployment in Q1 2024 was 10.6%, showing a decrease of 1.7% from the rate of 12.3% recorded in Q3 2023. The NEET rate among youth was 14.4% in Q1 2024, indicating a 0.7 percentage point increase from 13.7% in Q3 2023, with a higher NEET rate among females at 15.9%, compared to 13.0% for males.
Working Hours
Nationally, 1.5% of employed Nigerians worked between 1-9 hours a week, 4.8% worked between 10-19 hours, approximately 25% worked between 20-39 hours, 22% between 40-48 hours, and 46% worked 48 hours and above in a week.
