3.2.4. Lagos and Abuja

Table of contents

3.2.4. Lagos and Abuja

The Lagos State Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget indicated that businesses face challenges in finding suitable candidates with the appropriate skills and education.1006 The Jobberman report indicated that traditional informality is prevalent outside urban centres like Lagos due to the dominance of traditional markets, and that in Lagos in particular, informality persists due to poor market organisation and digital awareness, high cost of living, market fragmentation, and local disruptions.1007 The Lagos Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget indicated that, for 2025, monthly salaries in Lagos state vary according to the occupation:

  • management positions, with the highest monthly salary, earn an average of 215 000 Naira [120.5 Euros];

  • accounting, information technology, legal, health, engineering, finance, and technician positions, earn average salaries ranging between 100 000 [56 Euros] and 200 000 Naira [112 Euros];

  • occupations in areas such as transportation, administration, sales, and education, earn an average salary below 100 000 Naira [56 Euros].1008

The unemployment rate by state for the reference period of this report could not be found among the sources consulted within the time constraints. Nigeria’s NBS provided the following statistics for 2023:

National Federal Capital Territory Lagos
Unemployment 5.4 % 14.1 % 5.5 %
Labour force participation rate1009 76.3 % 64.9 % 74.3 %
Time-related underemployment rate1010 11.1 % 6 % 4.4 %
Informal employment 92.2 % 76.5 % 76.3 %

Source: Nigeria, Nigeria Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2023, 2024, url, pp. ii, 13, 128, 189

No additional information on employment, specifically regarding Abuja and relevant for the reference period of this report, could be found among all source consulted.

  • 1006

    Business Day, Widening skills gap keeps millions of Nigerians jobless, 19 March 2025, url

  • 1007

    Jobberman, Nigeria’s informal sector: A Pathway to Sustainable Economic Transitions for Young People, 2024, url, p. 35

  • 1008

    Nigeria, Lagos, Ministry of Economic Planning and Budget, Lagos Economic Development Update (LEDU) 2025, 2025, url, p. 64

  • 1009

    Labour force participation rate is ‘the proportion of a country’s working-age population that engages actively in the labour market, either by working or looking for work. It indicates the size of the supply of labour available to engage in the production of goods and services relative to the working-age population. It is defined as the ratio of the labour force to the working-age population expressed in percentage terms’. Nigeria, Nigeria Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2023, 2024, url, p. 13

  • 1010

    The time-related underemployment rate is defined as ‘the share of employed people who are working less than 40 hours per week, but who would be willing and available to do more hours of work’. Nigeria, Nigeria Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2023, 2024, url, p. 32