Nigeria’s Unemployment Sees Slight Uptick to 4.2% in Q2 2023
By Patience Ikpeme
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) confirmed in its quarterly labor data on Thursday that Nigeria’s unemployment rate experienced a marginal increase, settling at 4.2 percent in the second quarter of 2023, slightly up from 4.1 percent in Q1 2023.
According to the NBS, among men, the unemployment rate was 3.5%, while among women, it stood at 5.9% in Q2 2023. Urban areas reported a 5.9% unemployment rate, while rural areas were at 2.5%.
The NBS revised its methodology, defining employed individuals as those working at least one hour in the last seven days. The survey reported 80.4% participation in the working-age population.
For young people aged 15-24, the unemployment rate was 7.2% in Q2 2023. Educational levels showed varying unemployment rates: 8.0% for post-secondary education, 5.4% for upper secondary, 3.7% for lower secondary, 3.0% for primary education, and 2.5% for no formal education.
Among employed Nigerians, 88% were primarily self-employed, with women showing a higher inclination toward self-employment compared to men: 91.0% versus 85.2%, respectively.
The rate of informal employment, representing the informal sector’s share, stood at 92.7%. Notably, women dominated the informal employment sector, especially among younger individuals (15-24) and those above 65 years old.
Rural areas reported a higher informality rate at 97.3% compared to 88% in urban settings. Moreover, educational qualifications exhibited a negative correlation with informality: individuals with higher qualifications were less likely to be informally employed. Specifically, 99.6% of people with no formal education were found to be in informal employment.
