According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s unemployment rate was 5.4% in 2023. At the state level, Abia had the highest unemployment rate (18.7%), while Nasarawa had the lowest rate of 0.5%. The NBS claimed this in its Nigeria Labour Force Survey for 2023, which was issued in Abuja on Tuesday.
According to Mr Sunday Ichedi, Director of Communications and Public Relations, NBS, the research gave a complete picture of Nigeria’s labor market performance for 2023, as well as critical insights into important labour market indicators.
Ichedi stated that the 2023 annual report was the first of its sort, conducted in accordance with the International Labour Organization (ILO) rules during the fourth quarter of 2022 and the 3rd Quarter of 2023.
He said the findings offered detailed state-level data on critical labour market indicators such as unemployment, underemployment, wage employment, informal employment, and youth participation in education, employment, or training. Further highlights of the report showed that in terms of educational attainment, the rate of unemployment was highest among persons with post-secondary education at 9.4 percent in 2023.
“This was followed by those with secondary school education at 6.7 per cent, and those with primary education at 4.1 per cent.
“The lowest rate was recorded among those with no formal education at 3.2 per cent.”
The report said in 2023, the working-age population was 116.6 million, representing 53.8 percent of the total population, with women accounting for 52 percent and men with 48 percent. It said the annual labour force participation rate was 76.3 percent, which was equivalent to 88.9 million individuals.
“Bauchi state recorded the highest participation rate at 92.3 per cent, while Ekiti State had the lowest rate at 63.4 per cent.”
The report said 84.1 million individuals were employed out of the total working-age population in 2023, which included 20.6 million persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years. It said in 2023, the national employment-to-population ratio was 72.2 percent, with rural areas accounting for 77.3 percent and urban areas at 68.7 percent.
“Bauchi state had the highest employment-to-population ratio at 88.4 per cent, while Rivers recorded the lowest at 55.7 per cent.
“By sex, the employment-to-population ratio was 73.7 per cent for males and 70.7 per cent for females.”
The report said 77.6 million individuals were engaged in informal employment in 2023, accounting for 92.2 percent of the employed population. It said Kano State had the highest number of informal workers, with about 5.2 million individuals engaged in informal employment.
“This was followed by Lagos state with 4.6 million people (excluding agriculture).”
The report said the national time-related underemployment rate stood at 11.1 per cent, with men accounting for 8.3 per cent and women at 13.4 per cent.
“Plateau had the highest time-related underemployment at 33.9 per cent, while Nasarawa recorded the lowest rate at 0.3 per cent.”
It said the time-related underemployment rate was the share of employed people who were working less than 40 hours per week but who would be willing and available to work more. The report said the youth not in employment, education, or training (NEET rate) was 15.6 percent in 2023, with Abia recording the highest NEET rate at 38.1 percent and Zamfara recording the lowest at 4.5 percent.
