Explosive population growth of Nigeria

Nigeria has the highest population growth of the top ten most populous countries in the world. In 20 years between 1990 and 2010 the population increased by 62.4 percent. This extreme growth rate is expected to continue. In the 20 years from 2010 to 2030 the growth rate is estimated to 59.5 percent.

Highly explosive population growth

In 1950, Nigeria had a population of 32 million people. In 2000, 124 million, in 2050, 401 million, and in 2100 733 million. This means that the population will increase 23 fold in a period of 150 years. In the same period, total world population will increase from 2.56 billion in 1950 to 11.2 billion in 2100 - a 4.4 fold increase.

A young country

Even though Nigeria is the 7th most populous country in the world, it has the third-largest youth population, after India and China. Roughly 44 percent of the population is under 15 years old and an incredible 16 percent is under 5 years old - a higher percentage than  is between 0 and 14 in Japan (12 percent). The median age is 18.4 which is among the lowest in the world.

Life and death in Nigeria

Almost 6 children per woman

Naturally, the explosive population growth and young population is due to a very high fertility rate. On average, women in Nigeria have 5.7 children. The world average is 2.5

Short lives

The average life expectancy of 54.5 years is among the lowest in the world. Nigerian men only live to be 53.4 years. The women live a little longer with 55.6 years. This obviously contributes to the low median age.

Main cities of Nigeria

With 8 million people Lagos is the largest city in Nigeria followed by kano with 3.8 million people and Ibadan with 2.6 million.

A hyper mega city

By 2100 Lagos is expected to be the largest city in the world with over 88 million people. That’s 10 times the current population and more people than the total current population of Germany or twice the population of Argentina. All in one place.

Largest economy in Africa

Nigeria is the 30th largest economy in the world with a GDP of $395 billion. In 2014, Nigeria overtook South Africa to become Africa's largest economy. But this is mainly due to the large population. In terms of standard of living, Nigeria is still a poor country. 

The standard of living measured as the purchasing power of the population (GDP per capita at purchasing power parity) ranks Nigeria 129th in the world with just below $6000 a year.

Economic boom

The economy of Nigeria is expected to grow immensely in the coming decades. Some predict that Nigeria will have the highest GDP growth in the world between 2010 and 2050. By 2050, Nigeria is projected to be the 15th largest economy in the world (up from number 30 in 2017) overtaking countries such as Italy, Spain, and Canada. The economic growth is mostly due to the explosive population growth. Living standards will improve as well but not at the same pace though GDP per capita will go up too. The expected Nigerian GDP of $3.3 trillion in 2050 is more than 8 times higher than in 2017 while the population is expected to be roughly 4 times bigger.

Upcoming consumer boom in Nigeria?

According to some estimates, Nigeria’s middle class grew by 600 percent from 2000 to 2014. By 2030, the middle class is expected to grow another 285 percent and reach 11.7 million people. Despite the high growth rates, this would still be only about 4.5 percent of the population.

Half of the population lives in poverty

According to the United Nations, over half of the population of Nigeria lives in multidimensional poverty meaning these people lack income and are affected by poor health, lack of education, and other factors as well. So despite the economic growth, there is still a long way to go to get people out of poverty.

The labor force of Nigeria

Most people in Nigeria work in the agricultural sector (70 percent) with 10 percent working in industry and 20 percent in the service sector.

Oil!

Oil is by far the main export commodity of Nigeria. Crude oil made up a massive 74.7 percent of exports in 2016 with an additional 15.5 percent coming from petroleum gases and refined oil making a total of over 90 percent of exports coming from oil.

Environmental issues in Nigeria

The oil industry is located in the southern part of Nigeria known as the Niger Delta. The Niger Delta contains one of the highest concentrations of biodiversity on the planet. The massive oil industry in Nigeria has caused severe pollution to the Niger Delta. A UN report estimates there has been over 6800 oil spills between 1977 and 2001 polluting the Delta with 3 million barrels of oil.

Environmental Footprint of Nigeria

Because Nigeria is a poor country the ecological footprint per capita is low compared to developed western consumer societies. Nigeria is currently below the threshold of available natural resources with a footprint of 1.16 global hectares per capita as defined by the Global Footprint Network. This means that if everyone on Earth lived like the Nigerian population we would use 67 percent of the natural resources available. The ecological footprint of Nigeria will increase with the rapid growth of the population and the economy in the coming decades.