Nigeria’s unemployment rate increased by 0.8% in Q3, 2023

The unemployment rate in the third quarter of 2023 rose to 5.0%, a significant increase from 4.2% in the second quarter. The unemployment rate was 4.0% for males and 6.0% for women.

Geographically, urban areas had a 6.0% unemployment rate versus 4.0% in rural areas. Youth had an especially high unemployment rate of 8.6%.

Unemployment rates varied by educational attainment: 7.8% among those with postsecondary education, 6.3% among those with upper secondary education, 5.5% among those with lower secondary education, 4.8% among those with primary education, and 2.7% among those with no formal education.

Informal employment.

In Q3 2023, the proportion of employed adults engaged in informal work fell to 92.3%, down 0.4% from the previous quarter’s 92.7%. Notably, women have a far higher rate of informal employment than men.

Informal employment was reported to be more prevalent in rural areas, with 97.2% of residents involved, compared to 87.5% in cities. Females are overrepresented in informal employment relative to males.

Self-employment

For the quarter in question, 87.3% of employed Nigerians were mostly self-employed, with the remaining 12.7% working primarily as employees.

In terms of gender distribution, 90.5% of women were self-employed, compared to 84.2% of males in similar jobs.

Urban areas had a smaller proportion of self-employed people (80.3%), whereas rural areas had a greater rate of employment (94.5%).

Labour force participation

In Q3 2023, Nigeria’s labour force participation rate was 79.5%, down from 80.4% in Q2 2023. Men demonstrated a participation rate of 80.9%, while women had a rate of 78.2%. Residents in rural areas were more eager to participate in labour activities compared to their urban counterparts.

At the same time, 75.6% of Nigeria’s working-age population was employed. The employment-to-population ratio was 77.7% for men and 73.5% for women.

The employment-to-population ratio in urban regions was 71.1%, while in rural areas it was 80.7% higher.