- Nigeria’s Unemployment Rate by States for Q3 2018
The National Bureau of Statistics released a break down of Nigeria’s unemployment rate by states for the third quarter of 2018.
Nigeria’s unemployment rate during the quarter stood at 23.1 percent, while youths unemployment and underemployment rate was put at 55.4 percent. National underemployment rate was 20.1 percent in Q3 2018.
Below is a comprehensive list of the total number of unemployed people in each of the 36 states in Nigeria. The total population of the workforce, the percentage of the workforce that is unemployed and those underemployed in each state.
| State |
Labour Force Population |
Total Unemployed |
Unemployment % |
Under Employment Rate % |
| ABIA |
2,023,768 |
639,714 |
31.6 |
16.4 |
| ADAMAWA |
1,588,278 |
331,046 |
20.8 |
24.8 |
| AKWA-IBOM |
3,599,981 |
1,357,754 |
37.7 |
20.1 |
| ANAMBRA |
3,251,915 |
568,233 |
17.5 |
17.6 |
| BAUCHI |
2,122,724 |
498,601 |
23.5 |
23.6 |
| BAYELSA |
1,362,014 |
443,437 |
32.6 |
17.2 |
| BENUE |
2,777,485 |
559,255 |
20.1 |
25.0 |
| BORNO |
2,468,890 |
775,063 |
31.4 |
25.5 |
| CROSS RIVER |
1,936,998 |
593,387 |
30.6 |
19.9 |
| DELTA |
3,120,370 |
791,285 |
25.4 |
17.9 |
| EBONYI |
1,528,582 |
322,899 |
21.1 |
19.7 |
| EDO |
2,095,235 |
525,754 |
25.1 |
18.4 |
| EKITI |
1,770,459 |
357,500 |
20.2 |
14.0 |
| ENUGU |
2,467,332 |
460,462 |
18.7 |
17.7 |
| GOMBE |
995,947 |
268,891 |
27.0 |
23.7 |
| IMO |
3,123,271 |
880,351 |
28.2 |
15.1 |
| JIGAWA |
1,553,870 |
411,927 |
26.5 |
38.1 |
| KADUNA |
3,504,777 |
940,480 |
26.8 |
31.0 |
| KANO |
4,022,761 |
1,257,130 |
31.3 |
24.3 |
| KATSINA |
1,799,855 |
257,837 |
14.3 |
39.5 |
| KEBBI |
1,556,976 |
313,044 |
20.1 |
16.9 |
| KOGI |
2,463,102 |
485,653 |
19.7 |
24.8 |
| KWARA |
1,612,476 |
340,667 |
21.1 |
21.4 |
| LAGOS |
7,478,256 |
1,088,352 |
14.6 |
12.4 |
| NASARAWA |
1,366,207 |
374,211 |
27.4 |
24.3 |
| NIGER |
1,917,790 |
399,885 |
20.9 |
26.9 |
| OGUN |
3,116,782 |
511,277 |
16.4 |
10.9 |
| ONDO |
2,502,482 |
356,263 |
14.2 |
17.5 |
| OSUN |
2,466,519 |
248,316 |
10.1 |
14.6 |
| OYO |
4,032,123 |
416,830 |
10.3 |
14.3 |
| PLATEAU |
2,084,700 |
620,815 |
29.8 |
21.8 |
| RIVERS |
4,601,135 |
1,673,991 |
36.4 |
21.7 |
| SOKOTO |
1,672,920 |
435,702 |
26.0 |
26.6 |
| TARABA |
2,207,684 |
418,905 |
19.0 |
9.0 |
| YOBE |
1,113,650 |
322,466 |
29.0 |
30.0 |
| ZAMFARA |
1,427,042 |
256,517 |
18.0 |
23.0 |
| zFCT |
1,736,235 |
423,749 |
24.4 |
16.0 |
| Nigeria |
90,470,592 |
20,927,648 |
23.1 |
20.1 |
Katsina has the lowest unemployment rate (14.3%) during the quarter, followed by Lagos (14.6%). The highest number of unemployed people was recorded in Akwa Ibom state (37.7%), closely trailed by Rivers (36.4%).
