Unemployment rate in Nigeria reached 5.4% in 2023 – NBS

• In 2023, the national unemployment rate reached 5.4 per cent
• This represents over 4.7 million of Nigeria’s working-age population
• Labour force participation rate among the working-age population declined to 77.3 per cent in Q1 2024 from 79.5 per cent in Q3 2023

 The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says the national unemployment rate reached 5.4 per cent with 4,792,296 Nigerians under the working-age population unemployed in 2023.

According to the NBS, there are 116.6 million, representing 53.8 per cent of the total population, in the working age group with women accounting for 52 per cent while the population of men was 48 per cent.

These are contained in the 2023 Annual and Q1 2024 Nigeria Labour Force Survey (NLFS) results and announced by the Director of Communications and Public Relations, NBS, Sunday J. Ichedi, on Tuesday, September 24, in Abuja.

Recall that the unemployment rate rose to five per cent in the third quarter (Q3) of 2023 from 4.2 per cent in Q2, 2023 despite a revised assessment methodology by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2023, which saw the unemployment rate drop from 33 per cent in Q4, 2020 “in line with international best practices.”

According to the report, the annual Labour Force Participation rate was 76.3 per cent, representing 88.9 million individuals. It said Bauchi State recorded the highest participation rate at 92.3 per cent, while Ekiti State had the lowest at 63.4 per cent.

The NBS added that of the total working-age population in 2023, 84.1 million individuals were employed, including 20.6 million persons between the ages of 15 and 24. 

Headline unemployment rate reached 5.4% in 2023

The report also noted that the headline unemployment rate at the national level was 5.4 per cent in 2023. At the state level, Abia recorded the highest unemployment rate at 18.7 per cent, while Nasarawa had the lowest at 0.5 per cent. 

Under the unemployment by educational status category, the report said the unemployment rate was highest at 9.4 per cent among persons with post-secondary education. This was followed by those with secondary education at 6.7 per cent and those with primary education at 4.1 per cent. The rate was lowest for those with no formal qualification at 3.2 per cent.

The national time-related underemployment stood at 11.1 per cent, with 8.3 per cent for men and 13.4 per cent for women. Plateau State had the highest time-related underemployment at 33.9 per cent, while Nasarawa recorded the lowest at 0.3 per cent.

Youth not in employment, education, or training (NEET) rate was 15.6 per cent, with Abia State recording the highest NEET rate at 38.1 per cent and Zamfara State the lowest at 4.5 per cent.

Specific analysis of unemployment report

In analysing the specific contents of the report, the NBS said the national employment-to-population ratio (EPR) was 72.2 per cent in 2023, with rural areas (77.3 per cent), outperforming urban areas (68.7 per cent).

It said Bauchi State had the highest employment-to-population ratio at 88.4 per cent, while Rivers State recorded the lowest at 55.7 per cent. By sex, the EPR was 73.7 per cent for males and 70.7 per cent for females.

The report also noted that in 2023, 77.6 million individuals were engaged in informal employment, accounting 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 people (excluding agriculture).

Survey report comparison between Q1 2024 and Q3 2023

Other highlights of Q1 2024 Labour Force Survey showed that the labour force participation rate among the working-age population declined to 77.3 per cent in Q1 2024 from 79.5 per cent in Q3 2023. 

The employment-to-population ratio was 73.2 per cent in Q1 2024. This is a decrease of 2.4 percentage points compared to a ratio of 75.6 per cent in Q3 2023. 

The ratio in urban areas was 69.5 per cent and 78.9 per cent in rural areas in Q1 2024. This is a decrease in the ratio compared to the 71.1 per cent for urban areas and 80.7 per cent for rural areas in Q3 2023.

The report noted that the proportion of workers in wage employment rose to 16.0 per cent in Q1 2024, a 3.3 percentage point increase from 12.7 per cent in Q3 2023. By gender, 20.1 per cent of males were in wage employment compared to 12.1 per cent of females. Wage employment was also higher in urban areas at 21.8 per cent than in rural areas, where it stood at 8.1 per cent.

The unemployment rate increased to 5.3 per cent in Q1 2024 from 5.0 per cent in Q3 2023. By place of residence, the rate was 6.0 per cent in urban areas and 4.3 per cent in rural areas for Q1 2024. 

Unemployment was highest among people with post-secondary education in Q1 2024

Unemployment based on educational attainment shows that the unemployment rate among persons with post-graduate education was 2.0 per cent, 9.0 per cent among those with post-secondary education, 6.9 per cent for those with secondary education and 4.0 per cent among those with primary education in Q1 2024.

The report also shows that the unemployment rate among youth aged (15-24 years) was 8.4 per cent in Q1 2024, a decrease of 0.2 per cent compared to 8.6 per cent in Q3 2023. 

Time-related underemployment in Q1 2024 was 10.6 per cent, showing a decrease of 1.7 per cent from the rate of 12.3 per cent recorded in Q3 2023.

The percentage of youth not in education, employment, or training (NEET) rate was 14.4 per cent in Q1 2024, showing a 0.7 percentage point increase from 13.7 per cent in Q3 2023. The results also showed a higher NEET rate among females at 15.9 per cent, compared to 13.0 per cent for males in Q3 2023.

The report also noted that nationally, 1.5 per cent of employed Nigerians spent between one and nine hours in a week, 4.8 per cent spent between 10-19 hours in a week, approximately 25 per cent worked between 20-39 hours, 22 per cent between 40-48 hours and the 46 per cent worked 48 hours and above in a week. 

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