The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) says Nigeria’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.1 percent in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023, from 5.3 percent recorded in the previous quarter.
In the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2020, the bureau had pegged the country’s unemployment rate at 33.3 percent.
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The NBS, in a statement on Thursday, said the latest unemployment report adopted a new methodology and presented an in-depth analysis of the labour market.
“The latest Nigeria Labour Force Survey (NLFS) report sheds light on the dynamics of labour market within the country,” the statement reads.
“This report covers the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023, presenting an in-depth analysis of key labour market indicators such as employment, including unemployment rates, underemployment rates, hours worked, and informal employment.
“The revised methodology aligns with our contemporaries in Africa such as Ghana, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Benin, Gambia etc, in line with international best practices.”
In the new report, the NBS said Nigeria’s unemployment rate was at 5.3 percent in Q4 2022 and declined to 4.1 percent in Q1 2023.
This, according to the agency, aligns with the rates in other developing countries where work, “even if only for a few hours and in low-productivity jobs”, is essential to make ends meet, particularly in the absence of any social protection for the unemployed.
The bureau also said the revised methodology defines employed persons as individuals who are working for pay or profit and who worked for at least one hour in the last seven days against 40 hours.
“The old methodology placed a range on the working-age population- 15 – 64 years, while considering working hours between 20-39 hours as underemployment, 1-19 hrs as unemployment,” the statement reads.
