Nigeria Population

Nigeria population 2017

During 2017 Nigeria population is projected to increased by 5 055 552 people and reach 194 615 054 in the beginning of 2018. The natural increase is expected to be positive, as the number of births will exceed the number of deaths by 5 121 898. If external migration will remain on the previous year level, the population will be declined by 66 346 due to the migration reasons. It means that the number of people who leave Nigeria to settle permanently in another country (emigrants) will prevail over the number of people who move into the country (to which they are not native) in order to settle there as permanent residents (immigrants).

Population change rates in 2017

According to our estimations, daily change rates of Nigeria population in 2017 will be the following:

• 20 935 live births average per day (872.28 in an hour)
• 6 902 deaths average per day (287.59 in an hour)
• -182 emigrants average per day (-7.57 in an hour)

The population of Nigeria will be increased by 13 851 persons daily in 2017.

Demographics of Nigeria 2016

As of 1 January 2017, the population of Nigeria was estimated to be 189 559 502 people. This is an increase of 2.67 % (4 924 223 people) compared to population of 184 635 279 the year before. In 2016 the natural increase was positive, as the number of births exceeded the number of deaths by 4 988 845. Due to external migration, the population declined by 64 622. The sex ratio of the total population was 1.026 (1 026 males per 1 000 females) which is higher than global sex ratio. The global sex ratio in the world was approximately 1 016 males to 1 000 females as of 2016.

Below are the key figures for Nigeria population in 2016:

• 7 442 648 live births
• 2 453 803 deaths
• Natural increase: 4 988 845 people
• Net migration: -64 622 people
• 95 988 686 males as of 31 December 2016
• 93 570 816 females as of 31 December 2016

Nigeria population density

Nigeria population density is 205.2 people per square kilometer as of July 2017. Density of population is calculated as permanently settled population of Nigeria divided by total area of the country. Total area is the sum of land and water areas within international boundaries and coastlines of Nigeria. The total area of Nigeria is 923 770 km² according to the United Nations Statistics Division .

Nigeria age structure

As of the beginning of 2017 according to our estimates Nigeria had the following population age distribution:

40.9

55.9

3.1

	- percentage of population under 15
	- percentage of population between 15 and 64 years old
	- percentage of population 65+

In absolute figures (estimate):

• 77 599 973 young people under 15 years old ( 39 663 430 males / 37 938 439 females)
• 106 043 377 persons between 15 and 64 years old ( 54 098 386 males / 51 946 886 females)
• 5 916 152 persons above 64 years old ( 2 858 557 males / 3 055 699 females)

We prepared a simplified model of the population distribution pyramid which is broken down into 3 main age groups. The groups are the same as we used above: population under 15, between 15 and 64 and population which is over 65 year old.

65+

15-64

0-14

male

female

Note: The pyramid provided is not corresponding to data given above because the age groups have different number of years.

As we can see the Nigeria population pyramid has an expanding type. This type of pyramid is common for developing countries with high birth and death rates. Relatively short life expectancy, as well as low level of education and poor health care are also describe such kind of population age distribution model.

Source: The estimation data for section "Nigeria age structure" is based on the latest demographic and social statistics by United Nations Statistics Division .

Age dependency ratio

Dependency ratio of population is a ratio of people who are generally not in the labor force (the dependents) to workforce of a country (the productive part of population). The dependent part includes the population under 15 years old and people aged 65 and over. The productive part of population accordingly consists of population between 15 and 64 years.

This ratio shows the pressure on productive population produced by the dependent part of population.

The total dependency ratio of population in Nigeria is 78.8 %.

As we can see the dependent part of population is comparable to the working part. It means that each working person in Nigeria must provide goods for himself and cover expenditure on one child or aged person additionally. The value of 78.8 % shows that the pressure on productive population in Nigeria is very high.

Child dependency ratio

Child dependency ratio is a ratio of people below working age (under 15) to workforce of a country.

Child dependency ratio in Nigeria is 73.2 %.

Aged dependency ratio

Aged dependency ratio is a ratio of people above working age (65+) to workforce of a country.

Aged dependency ratio in Nigeria is 5.6 %.

Source: The estimation data for section "Nigeria age dependency ratio" is based on the latest demographic and social statistics by United Nations Statistics Division .

Life expectancy

Life expectancy at birth is one of the most important demographic indicator. It shows the number of years a newborn infant would live assuming that birth and death rates will remain at the same level during the whole lifetime.

Total life expectancy (both sexes) at birth for Nigeria is 47.6 years.
This is below the average life expectancy at birth of the global population which is about 71 years (according to Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations).

Male life expectancy at birth is 46.8 years.
Female life expectancy at birth is 48.4 years.

Literacy of population

According to our estimates 66 733 224 persons or 59.6% of adult population (aged 15 years and above) in Nigeria are able to read and write. Accordingly about 45 226 304 adults are illiterate.

Literacy rate for adult male population is 69.19% (39 407 939 persons). 17 549 004 are illiterate.
Literacy rate for adult female population is 49.68% (27 325 284 persons). 27 677 301 are illiterate.

Youth literacy rates are 79.89% and 65.33% for males and females accordingly. The overall youth literacy rate is 72.79%. Youth literacy rate definition covers the population between the ages of 15 to 24 years.

Source: The estimation data for section "Nigeria population literacy" is based on the latest data published by UNESCO Institute for Statistics (retrieved March 13, 2016) .