The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has disclosed that 84 per cent of Nigeria’s working-class population is self-employed in the first quarter of 2024, reflecting a decrease from the 87.3 per cent recorded in Q3 2023.
This is according to the Nigeria Labour Force Survey (NLFS) Q1 2024 report by the NBS.
The report indicates a decline of 3.3%-points in the self-employment rate, highlighting a shift within the labor market.
Also, the report noted a slight increase of 3.3%-points in wage employment in Q1 2024 to 16.0 per cent, from 12.7 per cent in Q3 2023, which means that more Nigerians got traditional salary paying jobs by early 2024. It reflects a modest but positive change in the employment landscape, indicating a slow but steady workforce absorption into more formal employment sectors.
The report notes that the self-employment rate has also decreased in both rural and urban areas. In rural regions, the self-employment rate fell from 93.7 per cent in Q3 2023 to 91.9 per cent in Q1 2024, marking a 1.8%-point decline.
In urban areas, the rate dropped from 80.7 per cent to 78.2 per cent, indicating a 2.5 percentage point decrease.
These figures reflect a gradual reduction in self-employment across the country, potentially due to improvements in wage employment options or challenges faced by small business owners in sustaining operations.
The report also highlights a gender-based decline in self-employment rates. The percentage of self-employed women decreased by 2.3%-points, from 90.2 per cent in Q3 2023 to 87.9 per cent in Q1 2024. Among men, self-employment dropped by 3%-points, from 82.9 per cent to 79.9 per cent during the same period.
These figures suggest that while both men and women experienced a decline in self-employment, men saw a slightly larger reduction, possibly due to greater access to wage employment opportunities in certain sectors.
According to the report, “The proportion of persons in self-employment declined from 86 per cent in Q1 2023 to 84 per cent 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 per cent while males was 79.9 per cent. Disaggregation by place of residence, the rate of self-employed persons in rural areas was 91.9 per cent and 78.2 per cent in urban areas.”
Nigeria continues to grapple with a high rate of informal employment. According to the NBS report, 92.7 per cent of the country’s employed population is engaged in informal work.
This represents a marginal increase from the 92.3 per cent recorded in Q3 2023, showing a rise of 0.4-points. Informal employment, which includes jobs that are not regulated by formal labor laws and lack social protections, remains a dominant feature of Nigeria’s labour market.
