The National Bureau of Statistics has reported that 84% of Nigeria’s working-class population was self-employed in the first quarter of 2024, marking a decline from 87.3% in the third quarter of 2023.
This is according to the Nigeria Labour Force Survey Q1 2024 report by the NBS.
The report indicate a notable shift within the labour market.
The report also highlighted a slight increase of 3.3 percentage points in wage employment, rising to 16.0% in Q1 2024 from 12.7% in Q3 2023.
This indicates that more Nigerians secured traditional salaried positions by early 2024, reflecting a modest yet positive shift in the employment landscape.
The trend suggests a gradual absorption of the workforce into more formal employment sectors, signaling potential growth in the economy.
The report indicates that the self-employment rate has decreased in both rural and urban areas.
In rural regions, the self-employment rate dropped from 93.7% in Q3 2023 to 91.9% in Q1 2024, representing a 1.8 percentage-point decline.
In urban areas, the self-employment rate decreased from 80.7% to 78.2%, reflecting a 2.5 percentage-point decline.
The report also notes a gender-based decline in self-employment rates. The percentage of self-employed women fell by 2.3 percentage points, decreasing from 90.2% in Q3 2023 to 87.9% in Q1 2024. Meanwhile, the self-employment rate among men dropped by 3 percentage points, from 82.9% to 79.9% during the same period.
These figures indicate that while both men and women experienced a decline in self-employment, men saw a slightly larger reduction. This trend may be attributed to greater access to wage employment opportunities in certain sectors, reflecting evolving dynamics within the labor market.
According to the report, “The proportion of persons in self-employment declined from 86% in Q1 2023 to 84% in Q1 2024. Survey findings reveal an increase in the share of employed persons primarily engaged as employees between Q1 2024 (16.0%) and Q3 2023(12.7%). The self-employment rate among females was 87.9% while males was 79.9%. Disaggregation by place of residence, the rate of self-employed persons in rural areas was 91.9% and 78.2% in urban areas.”
Nigeria continues to struggle with a high rate of informal employment, with the National Bureau of Statistics reporting that 92.7% of the country’s employed population is engaged in informal work.
This marks a slight increase from the 92.3% recorded in Q3 2023, representing a 0.4 percentage-point rise.
Informal employment, which encompasses jobs not regulated by formal labour laws and lacking social protections, remains a significant characteristic of Nigeria’s labour market.
