Nigeria’s unemployment rise 5.3% in Q1 2024

…Abia records highest unemployment rate, Nasarawa, lowest

Nigeria’s unemployment rate rose to 5.3% in Q1 2024, up from 5.0% in Q3 2023, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reveals in its latest report.

The 2023 Annual and Q1 2024 Nigeria Labour Force Survey (NLFS) results, published Tuesday showed the unemployment rate reached 6.0% in urban areas and 4.3% in rural regions.

According to the news report, the unemployment rate for the full year of 2023 was 5.4%. State-level disparities were notable, with Abia recording the highest unemployment at 18.7% and Nasarawa the lowest at 0.5%.

The working-age population in 2023 totalled 116.6 million, with a labour force participation rate of 76.3%. The employed population reached 84.1 million, with rural areas showing a stronger employment-to-population ratio of 77.3%, compared to 68.7% in urban areas.

“In Q1 2024, the labour force participation rate among the working-age population declined to 77.3% in Q1 2024, from 79.5% in Q3 2023.

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

“The ratio in urban areas was 69.5% and 78.9% in rural areas in Q1 2024. This is a decrease in the ratio compared to the 71.1% and 80.7% in Q3 2023, respectively.

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“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 also higher in urban areas, at 21.8% than in rural areas, where it stood at 8.1%.

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

“Unemployment based on educational attainment shows that the unemployment rate among persons 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 in Q1 2024.

“The unemployment rate among youth aged (15-24 years) was 8.4% in Q1 2024, a decrease of 0.2% compared to Q3 2023 (8.6%).

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

“Nationally, 1.5% of employed Nigerians spent between 1-9 hours in a week, 4.8% spent between 10-19 hours in a week, approximately 25% worked between 20-39 hours, 22% between 40-48 hours, and the 46% worked 48hours and above in a week.”