Nigeria’s unemployment rate down to 4.1% in Q1 2023 — NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Thursday Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.1 percent in the first quarter of this year.

In a report titled: “Nigeria Labour Force Statistics for Q4 2022 & Q1 2023,” the bureau revealed that the rate was lower than 5.3 percent recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022.

NBS added that the data was sourced through the Nigeria Labour Force Survey (NLFS) in line with International Labour Organisation (ILO) guidelines.

The report read: “About three-quarters of working-age Nigerians were employed – 73.6% in Q4 2022 and 76.7% in Q1 2023. This shows that most people were engaged in some type of jobs for at least one hour in a week for pay or profit.

“About one-third (36.4% in Q4 2022 and 33.2% in Q1 2023) of employed persons worked less than 40 hours per week in both quarters. This was most common among women, individuals with lower levels of education, young people, and those living in rural areas.

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“Underemployment rate, which is a share of employed people working less than 40 hours per week and declaring themselves willing and available to work more, was 13.7% in Q4 2022 and 12.2% in Q1 2023.

“Unemployment stood at 5.3% in Q4 2022 and 4.1% in Q1 2023. This aligns with the rates in other developing countries where work, even if only for a few hours and in low-productivity jobs, is essential to make ends meet, particularly in the absence of any social protection for the unemployed.

“22.3% of the working age population were out of the labour force in Q4 2022, while it was 20.1% in Q1 2023.

“The rate of informal employment among the employed Nigerians was 93.5% in Q4 2022 and 92.6% in Q1 2023.”

The World of Statistics had earlier this year ranked Nigeria number one among countries with the highest unemployment rates in the world at 33 percent.

The figure put Nigeria ahead of South Africa (32%), Iran (14%), Spain (13.2%) and Morocco (11.8%).

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