- More than two-thirds (68%) of Nigerian youth (aged 18-35) have secondary or post secondary education, a modest increase compared to older cohorts (62%-65%).
- Almost a quarter (23%) of youth say they are unemployed and looking for work, compared to 17%-21% of middle-aged respondents. o Aside from the country’s general economic situation and scarcity of jobs, young people cite a lack of experience required by employers, inadequate training or preparation, and youth unwillingness to work certain jobs as their most important barriers to employment. o Given their choice of jobs, a majority (60%) of Nigerian youth would like to start their own businesses. Next in popularity is working for the government or public sector (19%). o If the government could increase its spending on programmes to help youth, job creation would be young people’s top priority for greater investment, followed by access to business loans, job training, and education.
- The increasing cost of living is the most important problem that young Nigerians say their government must address, followed by unemployment, crime and security, poverty, management of the economy, and electricity.
- On these priority issues, youth offer overwhelmingly negative reviews of their government’s performance. On their top two priorities, inflation control and job creation, only 2% and 6% of youth, respectively, say the government is doing “fairly well” or “very well.”
- An overwhelming majority of young people see their country as moving in “the wrong direction” (91%) and describe both the country’s economic condition (86%) and their personal living conditions (72%) as “fairly bad” or “very bad.” o Not quite half (46%) of youth think things will get better during the coming year.
- Six in 10 Nigerian youth (60%) say they have considered emigrating, most to find jobs or escape economic hardship. The share of youth who say they have given “a lot” of thought to leaving the country has tripled since 2017, from 12% to 37%.
Nigeria’s population of more than 230 million is skewed toward youth: The median age is 18.1 years, and 58% of the population is under age 30 (Worldometer, 2025; World Bank, 2023a). While a youth bulge is often viewed as a potential driver of economic growth, current Nigerian realities present a more complex and challenging picture, not least because large portions of young adults are unemployed and lack the necessary skills to accelerate economic productivity (Punch, 2024).
Approximately 80 million Nigerians are classified as living in poverty, more than one-third of the population. Even beyond this segment officially considered poor, a significant share of households face difficult living conditions as they struggle to meet basic needs such as health care, education, and adequate housing (World Bank, 2023b).
Young Nigerians are confronted with especially difficult circumstances. The country ranks 172nd out of 183 countries in the 2023 Global Youth Development Index (Commonwealth, 2024), which assesses countries based on a variety of social, political, economic, health, and education measures. Nigeria places second-to-last for youth employment and opportunity and third-to-last for equality and inclusion. Although the National Bureau of Statistics reported an unemployment rate of 6.5% among 15- to 24-year-olds in 2024, this follows a controversial change in the methodology for calculating unemployment. In 2020, according to the official statistics agency, 53.4% of 15- to 24-year-olds were unemployed, as well as 37.2% of 25- to 34- year-olds – figures that experts say are much more in line with the reality on the ground (Mbachu, 2025; National Bureau of Statistics, 2021).
While successive governments have prioritised youth education and skills development, these initiatives have yet to make a significant dent in the high unemployment rates (This Day, 2025). Analysts argue that broader socio-economic and political challenges continue to limit the full potential of Nigeria’s youth, without which such interventions can only ever have a limited impact (Idike & Eme).
The Afrobarometer Round 10 survey (2024) offers some insights into the situation of Nigeria’s youth. Findings show that compared to older generations, Nigerians aged 18-35 have advanced only slightly in educational attainment and face somewhat higher rates of unemployment. Employment outranks other needs as a priority for additional government investment to help young people, Nigerians of all ages say. If given a choice of job sectors, a majority of youth say they would start their own businesses.
Job creation also ranks high among the most important problems that youth want their government to tackle, surpassed only by the increasing cost of living. But on these and other priority issues, most young citizens see their government as failing.
A majority of youth say they have considered emigrating, primarily in search of better work opportunities and relief from economic hardship.
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