Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige
Unemployment rate in Nigeria to rise by 2.9% to 40.6% in 2023 – KPMG report
Global audit and tax advisory firm, KPMG has projected that Nigeria’s unemployment rate will rise to 40.6 per cent as compared to 37.7 per cent recorded in 2022.
KPMG detailed this forecast in its International Global Economic Outlook report – H1 2023 released, Tuesday, where it stated that ‘unemployment is expected to continue to be a major challenge in 2023 due to the limited investment by the private sector, low industrialization, and slower than required economic growth and consequently the inability of the economy to absorb the 4-5 million new entrants into the Nigerian job market every year.’
The report also revealed in part that there are expectations for GDP to continue to grow at a relatively slow pace of 3 per cent in 2023 owing to the slowdown in economic activity that typically characterizes periods of political transition in Nigeria.
According to the report, the spillover from an expected slowdown in the global economy in 2023 and its trade and financial flow implications are expected to drag on the gross domestic product (GDP).
“Additionally, growth will be negatively affected by the Naira Redesign Policy introduced in Q4 2022 and Q1 2023 and its implications on key non-oil sectors like manufacturing, trade, accommodation and food services, transportation, and other services, further slowing down overall GDP growth in 2023,” the report read.
On the resurgence of major aspects of the economy, it forecasted that the telecommunications, trade services, as well as the oil sector, are expected to see recoveries, on account of measures being taken to tackle security issues.
