Few weeks ago, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) rolled out the Labor Force Statistics containing the 4th quarter report on underemployment and unemployment in Nigeria for the year 2020.
As predicted, Nigerians were irate as the report point to the fact that the country’s unemployment rate has soared from about 27% in the second quarter of 2020 to 33% in the last quarter of the year.
In this article, we will breakdown the unemployment data at the subnational level; that is, at the state level.
The article precisely provides a list of top 15 states with the highest unemployed people. But, before you scroll down to the list, it is important to know the NBS’ meaning of the unemployed.
According to the statistics agency, unemployed Nigerians are those without a job, and those who work less than 20 hours weekly.
15 States in Nigeria with highest number of unemployed people
Below is the list of states in Nigeria and the number of unemployed people:
- Lagos state: 1.85 million (1,846,604)
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Rivers state: 1.64 million (1,638,921)
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Akwa Ibom state: 1.26 million (1,262,605)
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Kaduna state: 1.11 million (1,111,091)
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Imo state: 1.1 million (1,102,525)
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Cross River state: 998,203
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Anambra state: 951,059
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Adamawa state: 899,636
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Delta state: 831,481
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Abia state: 818,926
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Kogi state: 773,198
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Kano state: 717,086
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Edo state: 709,099
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Niger state: 666,164
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FCT Abuja: 663,931
Note, nevertheless, that the number of unemployed people in a state does not accurately capture the status of unemployment because states have different population figures.
Unemployment rate is the statistics that captures the status of unemployment in a state or country, as the case may be.
For example, the top three states with the worst unemployment record are Imo, Adamawa and Cross River. Imo state has 56.64% unemployment rate followed by Adamawa state with 54.89% and Cross Rivers state with 53.65%.