21.7 million Nigerians are Unemployed, New Data Shows

About 21.7 million Nigerians are unemployed, representing 27.1% as at the second quarter of 2020.

As contained in the data report published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria’s unemployment rate for Q3 2018 was 23.1% – so it means the figure spiked by 4% between then and now.

According to the report, the number of persons in the economically active or working age population in reference to the period under review was 116,871,186. The age group was put at 15 – 64 years.

It said the number of persons in the labour force was 80,291,894, a decline of 11.3% compared to Q3 of 2018. Out this number, those within the 25-34 age group were highest, with 23,328,460.

The report stated, “For the period under review, Q2 2020, the unemployment rate among young people (15-34 years) was 34.9 per cent, up from 29.7 per cent, while the rate of underemployment for the same age group rose to 28.2 per cent from 25.7 per cent in Q3 2018”.

“The number of persons in the labour force (i.e. people within ages 15 -64, who are able and willing to work) was estimated to be 80,291,894. This was 11.3 per cent less than the number persons in Q3 2018.”

It further said the total number of people in employment in Q2 2020 fell by 15.8 per cent 58,527,276, compared to Q3 2018.

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“Of this number, 35,585,274 were full-time employed (i.e. worked 40+ hours per week), while 22,942,003 were under-employed (i.e. working between 20-29 hours per week),” it added.
The statistics office rated Imo State the highest with the rate of unemployment with 48.7 per cent, followed by Akwa-Ibom State and Rivers State with 45.2 per cent and 43.7 per cent respectively.

Anambra was said to have recorded the owest rate of unemployment at 13.1 per cent.
It is believed that the coronavirus worsened the case as employers adopted strong financial discipline, cutting loose employees and slashing paychecks.

Earlier this month, Two Nigerian airlines, Air Peace and Bristow Helicopters laid off over 150 pilots and engineers combined due to the Covid-19 pandemic. As many more companies are cutting operational costs globally, some are forced to shut down their businesses.