Only 26% of salary earners in Nigeria work in public sector – NBS

Only 26% of salary earners in Nigeria work in public sector – NBS 

About 74 per cent of salary earners in Nigeria work in the private sector, a new report by the National Bureau of Statistics has revealed.

This indicates that a small number put at 26 per cent of salary earners are employed by the government either at federal or state/local level.

The report put the number of those working in the public sector at 3.32 million, the wage earners in the private sector are 9.64 million.

It stated, “A significant 85% of employed people in Nigeria are self-employed, indicating that a lot of jobs come from individuals working for themselves.

“The remaining 15% of employed individuals earn wages, with 74% of them working in the private sector and 26% in the public sector.”

In figures, the NBS report stated that 71.2 million Nigerians are self-employed, working for themselves and just 12.96 million others work for wages out of 88.9 million in the country’s labour force.

A total of 116.6 million people in Nigeria are of working age, according to the survey.

Out of that group, 88.9 million people are part of the labour force, meaning they are either working or looking for work.

It said about 4.79 million people are unemployed (not working but are looking for jobs) while 84.1 million people have jobs bringing them income.

But about 27.7m people, or 24% of the working-age population, are not part of the labour force at all.

This means they are neither working nor looking for work, the survey revealed.

This data highlights the structure of the job market in Nigeria, showing a high rate of self-employment compared to wage earners.