In the third quarter of 2023, Nigeria experienced a notable increase in its unemployment rate, marking a significant rise of 0.8% compared to the second quarter of the same year, according to the latest report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) titled ‘Nigeria Labour Force Survey Q3 2023’ released on Monday.
The NBS highlighted that the unemployment rate surged from 4.2% in Q2 2023 to 5.0% in Q3 2023. Additionally, the labour force participation rate among the working-age population saw a decline, dropping to 79.5% in Q3 2023, down from 80.4% in Q2 2023.
Breaking down the statistics, the Bureau provided insights into various employment-related metrics. The employment-to-population ratio stood at 75.6% in Q3 2023, indicating a 1.5% decrease compared to the ratio in Q2 2023. The combined rate of unemployment and time-related underemployment, as a share of the labour force population (LU2), increased to 17.3% in Q3 2023, up from 15.5% in Q2 2023.
Self-employment remained prominent, accounting for 87.3% of workers in Q3 2023, while the proportion of workers in wage employment was 12.7%. The unemployment rate exhibited a significant rise, reaching 5.0% in Q3 2023, marking an increase of 0.8% from Q2 2023.
Among persons with post-secondary education, the unemployment rate was 7.8% in Q3 2023. The youth unemployment rate (aged 15-24 years) also saw an uptick, reaching 8.6% in Q3 2023, reflecting a 1.4% increase from Q2 2023.
In urban areas, the unemployment rate slightly rose to 6.0% in Q3 2023, a marginal increase of 0.1% from Q2 2023. Time-related underemployment in Q3 2023 experienced a slight uptick to 12.3%, representing a 0.5% increase from the rate recorded in Q2 2023 and a 1.4% increase compared to the rate in Q4 2022.
Additionally, 4.1% of the working-age population engaged in subsistence agriculture in Q3 2023. The informal employment rate in the same quarter was 92.3%, slightly lower than the 92.7% recorded in Q2 2023. The percentage of youth Not in Employment, Education, or Training (NEET Rate) was 13.7% in Q3 2023, as per the report.
