Nigeria has the second highest number of unemployed youths in the world, a global youth unemployment index has shown. 

The Spectator Index, a news and finance compilation website, posted a 20-country youth unemployment list on Monday. 

Nigeria’s astronomical 53 percent youth unemployment rate makes it second to only South Africa, which has 61 percent youth unemployment. 

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The other countries on the list are Greece, 29 percent; Spain, 29 percent; Sweden, 23 percent; Italy, 22 percent; Iran, 19 percent; Turkey, 19 percent; Portugal, 18 percent; France, 17 percent; Belgium, 16 percent; UK, 10.8 percent; Norway, 10 percent; Ireland, 10 percent; Canada, 9.2 percent; Australia, 7.8 percent; US, 7.5 percent; South Korea, 7.2 percent; Germany, 5.7 percent; and Japan at 5.2 percent. 

Clem Ikanade Agba, the Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, told a technical working group (TWG) on youth employment and skill development in February that the population of Nigeria had reached an estimated 217,079,601. He agreed that the youth population accounted for 70 percent of the entire population with 151 million youths. 

“It is also estimated by (ILO) that 12.6 percent of youths in the global labor force are unemployed, amounting to about 74.6 million youths. In Nigeria, about 53.40 percent of youths are unemployed, according to youth unemployment rates released by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2022,” he said. 

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Fifty-three percent of 151 million Nigerian youths are over 80 million unemployed, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). 

The federal government has said that it relies on international organisations such as the World Bank to help with youth employment policy recommendations.

Nigeria’s ability to create new jobs at a sustainable rate is yet to compensate for its population size.