Nigeria unemployment rate hits 5.3% in Q1 2024 – NBS

According to the bureau, time-related underemployment in Q1 2024 was 10.6 per cent, showing a decrease of 1.7 per cent from the rate of 12.3 per cent recorded in Q3 2023.

Nigeria’s unemployment rate rose to 5.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2024, the National Bureau of Statistics has said.

The bureau said this in its Nigeria Labour Force Survey (NLFS) report for Q1 2024 released on Tuesday.

“The Unemployment rate increased to 5.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2024 from 5.0 per cent in Q3 2023,” the NBS said.

A breakdown of the report showed that the labour force participation rate among the working-age population declined to 77.3 per cent in Q1 2024 from 79.5 per cent in Q3 2023.

It said the employment-to-population ratio was 73.2 per cent in Q1 2024. This, according to the report, is a decrease of 2.4 percentage points compared to a ratio of 75.6 in Q3 2023.

“The combined unemployment rate and time-related underemployment as a share of the labour force population (LU2) decreased to 15.3 per cent in Q1 2024 from 17.3 per cent in Q3 2023,” it said.

The report said the proportion of workers in wage employment in Q1 2024 was 16.0 per cent amounting to a 3.3 percentage point increase from 12.7 in Q3 2023.

It explained that the unemployment rate among persons with post-secondary education was 9.0 per cent in Q1 2024.

“The unemployment rate among youth aged (15-24 years) was 8.4 per cent in Q1 2024, a decrease of 0.2 per cent compared to Q3 2023 (8.6 per cent). The unemployment rate in urban areas was 6.0 per cent in Q1 2024, the same in Q3 2023,” the NBS said.

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According to the bureau, time-related underemployment in Q1 2024 was 10.6 per cent, showing a decrease of 1.7 per cent from the rate of 12.3 per cent recorded in Q3 2023.

It noted that 4.5 per cent of the working-age population was in subsistence agriculture in Q1 2024.

“The Percentage of youth not in education, employment or training (NEET Rate) was 14.4 per cent. Indicating a 0.7 percentage point increase from Q3 2023,” it said.