According to the Nigeria Labour Force Statistics Report for Q1 2024, the employment-to-population ratio dropped to 73.2%, down 2.4% from 75.6% in Q4 2023. In urban areas, the ratio was 69.5%, while rural areas saw a higher ratio of 78.9%, compared to 71.1% and 80.7% respectively in the previous quarter.
The report also highlighted a rise in wage employment, which climbed to 16.0% in Q1 2024, a significant increase of 3.3% from 12.7% in the prior quarter.
In terms of gender, 20.1% of males were in wage employment, compared to just 12.1% of females. Urban areas reported higher wage employment rates at 21.8%, while rural areas lagged behind at 8.1%.