From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
Against the expectations and calculations of Nigerians on the rise in the unemployment rate, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday disclosed that survey findings reveal that unemployment rate for the first quarter of 2023 has dropped from 33 per cent in 2018 to 4.1 per cent in 2023.
Similarly, unemployment rate for the fourth quarter of 2022 stood at 5.3 per cent.
In his remarks at the launch of the report, yesterday, in Abuja, the Statistician General of the Federation (SG), Prince Semiu Adeyemi Adeniran disclosed that the survey shows that about three quarters of Nigerians in the working age population shows that 73.6 per cent of Nigerians in Q4 2022 and 76.7 per cent in Q1 2023 were engaged in some form of work for pay or profit during quarters under review.
This workforce, according to him, is composed of individuals engaged in various types of work, including formal and informal employment.
However, a further 4.96 per cent were engaged in subsistence agriculture in the fourth quarter of 2022, while 3.56 per cent of the working age population were engaged in subsistence agriculture in the first quarter of 2023.
The results also indicated that a scarcity of wage-employment, as the share of those employed in wage-employment during the reference quarters was 13.4 per cent in Q4 2022 and 11.8 per cent in Q1 2023.
“A lot more Nigerians operate their own businesses or engage in agriculture. This figure was 73.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022, and 75.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2023. The high share of self-employed persons amongst the employed shows that most Nigerians struggle to find wage employment, which is most desirable by Nigerians.
“The share of the working age population in Nigeria that are not working was 21.4 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2023 and 19.8 per in the first quarter of 2023. Not working is a combination of those within the working age population who are unemployed and not in labour force, such as students, housewives and those not available and searching for work, hence the not working rate should not be taken as the unemployment rate.
Unemployment which is a challenge faced by countries across the globe, remains so for us in Nigeria. Using the new International Labour Organization (ILO) definition, the survey shows that the unemployment rate for the fourth quarter of 2022 stood at 5.3 per cent and 4.1 per cent for the first quarter of 2023. This figure aligns perfectly with neighbouring countries around Nigeria. Ghana (3.9 per cent), Niger (0.5 per cent), Chad (1.4 per cent), Cameroon (4.0), Togo (4.1 per cent), Benin Republic (1.7 per cent) amongst others. Unemployment amongst those with post-secondary education was highest, at 9.1 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022. This figure is almost double the headline unemployment rate for that quarter and highlights the challenging problem of graduate unemployment, were individuals, despite their education, struggle to secure employment” he said.
Concerning the underemployment rate which is equally an important issue in Nigeria, Adeniran disclosed that the survey also indicated
underemployment rate to be 13.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022, and 21.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2023.
“This indicates that, though persons are engaged, the engagement is not sufficient for them, and they would like to work additional hours of work.
“The survey also collected information on informality of employment. As we know, Nigeria has a large informal sector, however, the number of persons engaged in informal employment was largely blurred. Using the ILO definition, the survey estimates that 93.5 per cent of employed persons were engaged informally in the fourth quarter of 2022, while 92.6 per cent of employed persons in the first quarter of 2023 were also engaged informally. This is very interesting and useful information for government, particularly at this time when discussions are ongoing on palliative measures to be taken following the removal of petrol subsidies,” he noted