Nigeria: People & Society#
| Population | 186,053,386 note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected (July 2016 est.) |
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| Nationality | noun: Nigerian(s) adjective: Nigerian |
| Ethnic groups | Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, is composed of more than 250 ethnic groups; the most populous and politically influential are: Hausa and the Fulani 29%, Yoruba 21%, Igbo (Ibo) 18%, Ijaw 10%, Kanuri 4%, Ibibio 3.5%, Tiv 2.5% |
| Languages | English (official), Hausa, Yoruba, Igbo (Ibo), Fulani, over 500 additional indigenous languages |
| Religions | Muslim 50%, Christian 40%, indigenous beliefs 10% |
| Demographic profile | Nigeria’s population is projected to grow from more than 186 million people in 2016 to 392 million in 2050, becoming the world’s fourth most populous country. Nigeria’s sustained high population growth rate will continue for the foreseeable future because of population momentum and its high birth rate. Abuja has not successfully implemented family planning programs to reduce and space births because of a lack of political will, government financing, and the availability and affordability of services and products, as well as a cultural preference for large families. Increased educational attainment, especially among women, and improvements in health care are needed to encourage and to better enable parents to opt for smaller families. Nigeria needs to harness the potential of its burgeoning youth population in order to boost economic development, reduce widespread poverty, and channel large numbers of unemployed youth into productive activities and away from ongoing religious and ethnic violence. While most movement of Nigerians is internal, significant emigration regionally and to the West provides an outlet for Nigerians looking for economic opportunities, seeking asylum, and increasingly pursuing higher education. Immigration largely of West Africans continues to be insufficient to offset emigration and the loss of highly skilled workers. Nigeria also is a major source, transit, and destination country for forced labor and sex trafficking. |
| Age structure | 0-14 years: 42.79% (male 40,744,956/female 38,870,303) 15-24 years: 19.48% (male 18,514,466/female 17,729,351) 25-54 years: 30.65% (male 29,259,621/female 27,768,368) 55-64 years: 3.96% (male 3,595,293/female 3,769,986) 65 years and over: 3.12% (male 2,754,040/female 3,047,002) (2016 est.) |
| Dependency ratios | total dependency ratio: 87.7% youth dependency ratio: 82.6% elderly dependency ratio: 5.1% potential support ratio: 19.5% (2015 est.) |
| Median age | total: 18.3 years male: 18.2 years female: 18.4 years (2016 est.) |
| Population growth rate | 2.44% (2016 est.) |
| Birth rate | 37.3 births/1,000 population (2016 est.) |
| Death rate | 12.7 deaths/1,000 population (2016 est.) |
| Net migration rate | -0.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2016 est.) |
| Urbanization | urban population: 47.8% of total population (2015) rate of urbanization: 4.66% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.) |
| Major urban areas - population | Lagos 13.123 million; Kano 3.587 million; Ibadan 3.16 million; ABUJA (capital) 2.44 million; Port Harcourt 2.343 million; Benin City 1.496 million (2015) |
| Sex ratio | at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female 0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-24 years: 1.04 male(s)/female 25-54 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 55-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.91 male(s)/female total population: 1.04 male(s)/female (2016 est.) |
| Mother's mean age at first birth | 20.3 note: median age at first birth among women 25-29 (2013 est.) |
| Maternal mortality rate | 814 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate | total: 71.2 deaths/1,000 live births male: 76 deaths/1,000 live births female: 66.2 deaths/1,000 live births (2016 est.) |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 53.4 years male: 52.4 years female: 54.5 years (2016 est.) |
| Total fertility rate | 5.13 children born/woman (2016 est.) |
| Contraceptive prevalence rate | 15.1% (2013) |
| Health expenditures | 3.7% of GDP (2014) |
| Physicians density | 0.41 physicians/1,000 population (2009) |
| Drinking water source | improved: urban: 80.8% of population rural: 57.3% of population total: 68.5% of population unimproved: urban: 19.2% of population rural: 42.7% of population total: 31.5% of population (2015 est.) |
| Sanitation facility access | improved: urban: 32.8% of population rural: 25.4% of population total: 29% of population unimproved: urban: 67.2% of population rural: 74.6% of population total: 71% of population (2015 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate | 3.17% (2014 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS | 3,391,600 (2014 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths | 174,300 (2014 est.) |
| Major infectious diseases | degree of risk: very high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: malaria, dengue fever, and yellow fever water contact disease: leptospirosis and schistosomiasis respiratory disease: meningococcal meningitis aerosolized dust or soil contact disease: Lassa fever animal contact disease: rabies (2016) |
| Obesity - adult prevalence rate | 9.7% (2014) |
| Children under the age of 5 years underweight | 19.8% (2014) |
| Education expenditures | NA |
| Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 59.6% male: 69.2% female: 49.7% (2015 est.) |
| Child labor - children ages 5-14 | total number: 11,396,823 percentage: 29% (2007 est.) |
| Unemployment, youth ages 15-24 | total: 8.1% male: NA female: NA (2014 est.) |