In the third quarter of 2023, Nigeria witnessed a rise in its unemployment rate to 5.0 per cent from 4.2 per cent in the previous quarter, as per the latest Labour Force Survey released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday.
The report highlighted a decline in the labour force participation rate among the working-age population to 79.5 per cent in Q3 compared to 80.4 per cent in Q2 of 2023.
Nigeria had an unprecedented unemployment rate of 33.3 per cent in Q4 2020. However, it saw a decline to 4.1 per cent in Q1 2023, following a change in methodology by the NBS.
The NBS data that was released on Monday showed that employment-to-population ratio stood at 75.6 per cent in Q3, indicating a decrease of 1.5 per cent compared to Q2. The combined rate of unemployment and time-related underemployment (LU2) rose to 17.3 per cent in Q3 from 15.5 per cent in Q2.
Self-employment accounted for about 87.3 per cent of workers in Q3, while the proportion of workers in Wage Employment was 12.7 per cent.
Unemployment among individuals with post-secondary education reached 7.8 per cent in Q3, while youth unemployment (aged 15-24 years) stood at 8.6 per cent, marking a 1.4 per cent increase compared to Q2.
In urban areas, the unemployment rate rose slightly to 6.0 per cent in Q3, up by 0.1 per cent from Q2.
“Time-related underemployment in Q3 increased slightly to 12.3 per cent, up by 0.5 per cent from Q2. The informal employment rate remained high at 92.3 per cent in Q3, compared to 92.7 per cent in Q2. The NEET Rate, representing the percentage of youth Not in Employment, Education, or Training, was recorded at 13.7 per cent in Q3,” the report concluded.