In the third quarter of 2023, Nigeria’s unemployment rate climbed by 0.8%, reaching 5.0% as per the National Bureau of Statistics.
The NBS, responsible for official statistics in the country, released the ‘Nigeria Labour Force Survey Q3 2023’ report, revealing the significant rise from the 4.2% unemployment rate in Q2 2023 to 5.0% in Q3 2023.
The report highlighted a decrease in the employment-to-population ratio to 75.6% in Q3 2023, down by 1.5% from Q2 2023. Furthermore, the combined rate of unemployment and time-related underemployment rose to 17.3% in Q3 2023 from 15.5% in Q2 2023.
Notably, self-employment accounted for 87.3% of workers in Q3 2023, while only 12.7% were in wage employment. The unemployment rate for individuals with post-secondary education stood at 7.8% in Q3 2023.
Additionally, the report indicated that the unemployment rate for youth aged 15 to 24 was 8.6% in Q3 2023. Urban areas recorded a 6.0% unemployment rate in Q3 2023, and time-related underemployment increased to 12.3% from the previous quarter.
Moreover, the report revealed that 4.1% of the working-age population was engaged in subsistence agriculture in Q3 2023, and the informal employment rate stood at 92.3%. Meanwhile, the percentage of youth not engaged in employment, education, or training was 13.7% in Q3 2023.
Furthermore, the report highlighted the inflation rate in Nigeria, which surged to 29.90% in January 2024 from the previous month’s 28.92%. This development puts pressure on the Central Bank’s monetary policy committee to consider raising interest rates at its upcoming meeting.
