Population Growth and Unemployment in Nigeria

Abstract

The Nigerian economy has been seriously bedeviled by a myriad of economic malaise that has explained the slow pace of its growth rate and a severe decline in development. It is in view of the above that the study critically examined the relationship between population growth and unemployment in Nigeria. The paper employed data from secondary sources which covered the period of 1991-2016, sourced from the World Bank data base. The method of analysis was the Johansen Cointegration and Error correction model. ADF unit root test was used to establish the order of integration of the variables. Granger causality test was used to examine the direction of causality among the variables. A positive relationship was found to exist between population growth and unemployment. The result of the regression analysis shows that population plays a major role in the increased level of unemployment in Nigeria. The findings showed that population growth has a strong impact on unemployment in Nigeria. This means that a rise in population growth leads to a rise in unemployment. The study concluded that to combat the acute unemployment in the country, the Government should ensure there is job creation especially in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. Private sectors employers should be given subsidies so as to encourage them to employ more people. Keywords: Population growth, Unemployment, Corruption, Rural urban migration. JEL Classification: E24, J62, J11 DOI : 10.7176/JESD/11-2-10 Publication date: January 31 st 2020