Nigeria’s Unemployment Rate Increased to 5.3% in Q1 2024 –NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said the unemployment rate in Nigeria increased to 5.3 per cent in Q1 2024 from the 5.0 per cent recorded in Q3 2023. The NBS said this in its Nigeria Labour Force Survey for Q1 2024, released in Abuja yesterday.

The Bureau said the unemployment rate was defined as the share of the labour force who were not employed but who were actively searching and were available for work. In terms of educational attainment, the report said the rate of unemployment among persons with post-graduate education was 2.0 per cent in Q1 2024.

“While unemployment among those with post-secondary education was 9.0 per cent, while those with secondary education was 6.9 per cent, and 4.0 per cent for those with primary education.”

It said the unemployment rate among youth aged (15-24 years) in Q1 2024 was 8.4 per cent, which was a decrease of 0.2 per cent compared to the 8.6 per cent recorded in Q3 2023. The report said the unemployment rate among males was 4.3 per cent and 6.2 per cent among females in Q1 2024.

“The unemployment rate was 6.0 per cent in urban areas and 4.3 per cent in rural areas in Q1 2024.” The NBS said time-related underemployment in Q1 2024 was 10.6 per cent, indicating a decrease of 1.7 per cent from the 12.3 per cent recorded in Q3 2023.

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 share of the underemployed men was 8.5 per cent, while the share of underemployed women was 12.5 per cent in Q1 2024.

“The underemployment rate was 9.7 per cent in urban areas and 11.8 per cent in rural areas.” The NBS said the labour force participation rate among the working-age population in Nigeria dropped to 77.3 per cent in Q1 2024 compared to 79.5 recorded in Q3 2023. The report said the participation rate among males was 77.5 per cent while for females it was 77.1 per cent.

It said the employment-to population ratio, which was the proportion of the working-age population that was employed was 73.2 per cent in Q1 2024.

It said in Q1 2024, the percentage of youth (15-24 years) identified as Young Persons Not in Employment, Education nor Training (NEET) was 14.4 per cent. The NBS said 1.5 per cent of employed Nigerians spent between one to nine hours a week working, while 4.8 per cent spent between 10 to 19 hours a week.