{"id":85926,"date":"2023-07-14T13:38:47","date_gmt":"2023-07-14T13:38:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/editor.mediahack.co.za\/theoutlier\/?p=85926"},"modified":"2025-11-17T17:42:00","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T17:42:00","slug":"which-african-country-has-the-highest-unemployment-rate-it-depends-who-you-ask","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/2023\/07\/14\/which-african-country-has-the-highest-unemployment-rate-it-depends-who-you-ask\/","title":{"rendered":"Which African country has the highest unemployment rate? It depends who you ask"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Nigeria and South Africa have the highest unemployment rates in Africa. According to their own statistics agencies, both are above 30%<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Nigeria is adopting the International Labour Organization\u2019s method of calculating employment statistics, which estimates the country\u2019s unemployment rate as 6%<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The decision to change methodology comes at a time when the country is battling spiralling inflation<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Nigeria&#8217;s unemployment rate is 33.3%, according to the latest figure available from the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nigerianstat.gov.ng\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"> National Bureau of Statistics<\/a> (NBS). This estimate is for the fourth quarter of 2020, which makes it more than two years old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For a person to be considered employed in Nigeria, they must work at least 20 hours a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The International Labour Organization, an agency of the UN, says an employed person is anyone who works for at least an hour a week for pay or profit. By the ILO\u2019s estimate, Nigeria\u2019s unemployment rate is just 6%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These differing definitions can make things very confusing. For example:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The World Bank uses the ILO\u2019s unemployment rate (5.8%), but also lists a national estimate of 10.7%, which is for 2019<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The International Monetary Fund\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imf.org\/external\/datamapper\/LUR@WEO\/OEMDC\/ADVEC\/WEOWORLD\/NGA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">unemployment rate<\/a>&nbsp;for Nigeria is 22.6%, but that\u2019s for 2018<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>KPMG, the global audit and tax advisory firm, estimates the unemployment rate for 2022 at 37.7%<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The NBS says it has now adopted the ILO\u2019s methodology, although it has yet to release a new unemployment rate. When it does, it could be up to 27 percentage points lower than its latest rate of 33.3% \u2013 which means the country will no longer have the highest unemployment rate on the continent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-medium is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/editor.mediahack.co.za\/theoutlier\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/07\/Final-version-for-publication-1-600x600.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-85927\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Economic hardship<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Nigeria\u2019s decision to change to the ILO\u2019s methodology has been met with some scepticism, especially as its new president is battling a cost-of-living crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>President&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2023\/05\/29\/africa\/bola-tinubu-inauguration-nigeria-intl\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bola Tinubu<\/a>&nbsp;assumed office in May 2023<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tinubu has cancelled a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.iisd.org\/articles\/deep-dive\/nigeria-fuel-subsidy-reform\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">40-year fuel subsidy<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2023\/06\/01\/energy\/nigeria-ends-fuel-subsidy-intl-lgs\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">tripling the fuel price<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Nigeria\u2019s currency, the naira,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/businessday.ng\/markets\/article\/naira-falls-by-28-96-at-official-market-after-devaluation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dropped to a record low<\/a>&nbsp;against the US dollar in June<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The cost of food hit a 17-year high in May<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>In its Global Outlook report released in April 2023, KPMG projected that Nigeria&#8217;s unemployment rate could rise to 40.6% in 2023 and that unemployment would remain a major challenge. It said gross domestic product was expected to grow at a slow pace of 3% in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Top position<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The four African countries with the highest unemployment rates, according to their national statistics agencies are: Namibia (33.4%), Nigeria (33.3%), Eswatini (33%) and South Africa (32.9%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the picture shifts once adjusted to the ILO\u2019s 2023 estimates. Because South Africa already follows the international definition of employment, the StatsSA and ILO estimates differ by only a few percentage points \u2013 and it stays at the top of the list with 30%, which is double that of most countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are only eight other African countries with a rate of 20% or more, including Djibouti (28%) and Eswatini (25%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the ILO, nine African countries have an unemployment rate of over 20%<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/editor.mediahack.co.za\/theoutlier\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2023\/07\/Top-unemployment-800x800.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-85934\" width=\"600\" height=\"600\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Thirty-four countries on the continent have an unemployment rate less than 10%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How the ILO compiles data<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s worth noting that in compiling its unemployment rate figures, the ILO uses surveys sent to government officials and national statistics agencies as well as the raw data from the surveys and censuses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Notebook<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>South Africa\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.statssa.gov.za\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Statistics SA<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Nigeria\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nigerianstat.gov.ng\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">National Bureau of Statistics<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ilo.org\/global\/lang--en\/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The International Labour Organization<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.imf.org\/external\/datamapper\/LUR@WEO\/OEMDC\/ADVEC\/WEOWORLD\/NGA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">IMF\u2019s unemployment rate portal<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/data.worldbank.org\/indicator\/SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">World Bank\u2019s unemployment data<\/a>&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>KPMG\u2019s&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/assets.kpmg.com\/content\/dam\/kpmg\/xx\/pdf\/2023\/03\/kpmg-global-economic-outlook-h1-2023-report.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Global Economic Outlook H1 2023<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nigera\u2019s own statistics bureau says the country has one of Africa\u2019s highest unemployment rates, but the UN\u2019s labour agency says it is lower. Much lower. Here\u2019s why<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85928,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,446,8,1387],"tags":[353,354,355,356,256,357,40,243,18,271,358],"newsletter-post":[],"site":[],"class_list":["post-85926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-governance","category-news","category-politics","category-the-outlier","tag-bola-tinubu","tag-international-labour-organization","tag-international-monetary-fund","tag-kpmg","tag-nigeria","tag-petrol-price","tag-south-africa","tag-statssa","tag-unemployment","tag-united-nations","tag-world-bank"],"acf":{"big_number":null,"big_number_caption":null,"big_number_link":null,"big_number_background":null,"big_number_text_colour":null,"big_number_icon":null,"big_number_wide":null,"featured_chart":null,"flourish_chart_id":null,"flourish_sub_title":null,"flourish_chart_width":null,"is_newsletter_post":null,"post_style":null,"show_on_front":null,"link_through":null,"chart_url":null,"background_colour":null,"text_colour":null},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85926"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":86545,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85926\/revisions\/86545"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85926"},{"taxonomy":"newsletter-post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newsletter-post?post=85926"},{"taxonomy":"site","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/outliereditor.co.za\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/site?post=85926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}