Unemployment in Africa’s largest economy surged to the second highest on a global list of countries monitored by Bloomberg. The jobless rate in Nigeria rose to 33.3% in the three months through December, according to a report published by National Bureau of Statistics on its website Monday. That’s up from 27.1% in the second quarter of 2020, the last period for which the agency released labor-force statistics.
A third of the 69.7 million-strong labor force in Africa’s most-populous nation either did nothing or worked for less than 20 hours a week, making them unemployed, according to the Nigerian definition. Another 15.9 million worked less than 40 hours a week, making them underemployed.
Jobs Crisis
Less than half of Nigeria’s labor force is fully employed
Source: National Bureau of Stastistic
The oil producer surpassed South Africa on a list of 82 countries whose unemployment rates are tracked by Bloomberg. Namibia still leads the list with 33.4%.
Nigeria’s jobless rate has more than quadrupled over the last five years as the economy went through two recessions, casting a shadow over the efforts to implement policies to drive growth and create jobs by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
Food Costs
The lack of jobs adds to pressure on consumers in a country where food prices rose more than 20% year-on-year in January and authorities struggle to bring insecurity driven by violent insurgency attacks and kidnappings under control. Nigeria’s finances were knocked by last year’s drop in the price of oil, which account for 90% of foreign-exchange earnings and about half of government income.
The recovery of the economy with 200 million people will be slow, with growth seen at 1.5% this year, after last year’s 1.9% contraction, according to the International Monetary Fund. Output will only recover to pre-pandemic levels in 2022, the lender said.