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Nigeria — Unemployment
Unemployment Rate for Nigeria, 1991–2025.
Latest value · 2025
3.06%
Unemployment Rate · % of total labor force · -20.0% since 1991
Unemployment for Nigeria was 3.06% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 35 years, from 1991 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 5.71% in 2020. The lowest was 3.04% in 2024 (about 1.0× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to -0.65% per year.
Nigeria ranks 144 of 187 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 77%. The median for Sub-Saharan Africa is 5.45%, so Nigeria sits below it. It peaked in 2020 and has fallen 46% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved down 26%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
3.06%
First (1991)
3.83%
Change
-20.0%
Highest
5.71%
in 2020
Lowest
3.04%
in 2024
Average
4.00%
Annual growth (CAGR)
-0.65%
Years of data
35
Recent years
| Year | % of total labor force |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 3.06% |
| 2024 | 3.05% |
| 2023 | 3.07% |
| 2022 | 3.83% |
| 2021 | 5.4% |
| 2020 | 5.71% |
| 2019 | 5.21% |
| 2018 | 5.07% |
| 2017 | 4.83% |
| 2016 | 4.5% |
| 2015 | 4.13% |
| 2014 | 3.9% |
Reading this correctly. Share of the labor force without work but available for and seeking employment. National definitions differ, so cross-country comparison needs care. Figures are in % of total labor force. Comparing this series with a different measure of the same concept (for example a nominal figure against a purchasing-power-parity figure) will give misleading results.
Related data
Source. World Bank Open Data, indicator
SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS — Unemployment Rate. Data licensed under CC BY 4.0. Values are reproduced as published; this page computes the summary statistics (change, CAGR, extremes) from the underlying annual series. View the original dataset on data.worldbank.org.