Nigeria data questions answered
The 15 questions people search most about Nigeria's official figures, each answered from the body that publishes them, with a link to check the latest number yourself.
What is the population of Nigeria?
Nigeria's population was 237,527,782 in 2025, according to the World Bank's World Development Indicators. The figure is a modelled estimate built from census, survey and registration data, and the World Bank revises past years when new information arrives.
The National Population Commission is responsible for Nigeria's census and population projections, and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) uses those projections in its household surveys. The Commission's website could not be reached on 13 October 2026. Because the last full census is many years old, all current totals for Nigeria are projections rather than counts.
What is the inflation rate in Nigeria?
Headline inflation was 15.39% in August 2026, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, down slightly from 15.43% in July. Food inflation was 19.57% and core inflation, which excludes farm produce and energy, was 13.29%. The Central Bank of Nigeria's inflation page carries the same headline figure.
The consumer price index was rebased so that 2024 equals 100, which changed the weights and the level of measured inflation. Figures from before the rebasing are not directly comparable with the new series. NBS publishes a monthly CPI report; the year-on-year rate compares prices with the same month a year earlier.
What is Nigeria's GDP and growth rate?
Real GDP grew by 3.89% year on year in the first quarter of 2026, up from 3.13% in the first quarter of 2025, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. In US dollars, the World Bank puts Nigeria's GDP at US$290.8 billion in 2025 at current prices.
NBS compares each quarter with the same quarter a year earlier, so its rates are not seasonally adjusted quarter-on-quarter figures. The dollar value depends heavily on the naira exchange rate: after the naira's fall in 2023 and 2024, dollar GDP dropped sharply even while real output grew. NBS has also rebased GDP, so older and newer series differ in level.
What is the naira to dollar exchange rate today?
The official exchange rate was ₦1,332.97 per US dollar on 13 October 2026, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria's exchange rate page, which publishes the volume-weighted average rate in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM). The closing rate that day was ₦1,335.50, and the rate on 12 October was ₦1,332.10.
The CBN describes the NFEM weighted average as the official rate for the day. Rates at bureaux de change and in parallel markets can differ, and banks add a margin. The CBN page lets you export the daily series, including the day's high, low and turnover.
What is the interest rate in Nigeria?
The Central Bank of Nigeria's Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) was 23% on 13 October 2026, according to the CBN website, which also carries the press briefing of the 307th Monetary Policy Committee meeting. In the CBN's money market indicators, the MPR was 26.50% in August 2026, with an average prime lending rate of 17.86% and a maximum lending rate of 29.20%.
The MPR is the benchmark the CBN uses to signal its policy stance; banks' lending rates are set separately and vary widely. The monthly money market table shows month-end or average values, so it can lag a decision made later in the month.
What is Nigeria's GDP per capita?
Nigeria's GDP per person was US$1,224.25 in 2025, according to the World Bank's World Development Indicators. It divides GDP at current prices, converted to dollars, by the estimated mid-year population.
Two things move this figure besides output: the naira exchange rate, which converts naira GDP into dollars, and the population estimate, which is a projection. Both carry uncertainty for Nigeria. For comparing living standards across countries, the World Bank's purchasing-power-parity series is less affected by exchange-rate swings.
What is the unemployment rate in Nigeria?
The World Bank's modelled International Labour Organization estimate puts Nigeria's unemployment rate at 3.1% in 2025, in its World Development Indicators.
The national figure comes from the National Bureau of Statistics' Nigeria Labour Force Survey; the most recent edition listed in the NBS e-library on 13 October 2026 covers the second quarter of 2024. NBS revised its labour force method to follow current International Labour Organization standards, so older NBS figures, which used a different definition and were much higher, should not be compared with the new series. Underemployment and informal work are reported separately in the survey.
What is the minimum wage in Nigeria?
Nigeria's national minimum wage is set by an Act of the National Assembly, the National Minimum Wage Act, as amended. The text of Acts is published by the National Assembly and the Federal Ministry of Justice. The amount could not be read on an official page on 13 October 2026, so it is not quoted here.
The minimum wage is a monthly amount, and federal and state governments negotiate how it applies to their own staff. When checking a claim, look for the amending Act and its commencement date, since figures reported in the press during negotiations are often proposals rather than law.
How much debt does Nigeria have?
General government gross debt was 36.1% of GDP in 2025, according to the IMF's World Economic Outlook database; the IMF flags recent years as estimates.
Nigeria's Debt Management Office (DMO) publishes the official total public debt every quarter, in naira and dollars, split into external and domestic debt and into federal and state government shares. Because much of the external debt is in dollars, a weaker naira raises the naira value of the debt even without new borrowing. Debt-to-GDP ratios also moved when GDP was rebased.
What is the birth rate in Nigeria?
Nigeria's crude birth rate was 32.5 births per 1,000 people in 2024, according to the World Bank's World Development Indicators. The total fertility rate was 4.38 births per woman in the same year, according to the World Bank.
Birth registration in Nigeria is incomplete, so these figures are modelled from household surveys such as the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey and the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey run with NBS. Fertility differs widely between states and between urban and rural areas, which national averages hide.
What is the poverty rate in Nigeria?
The World Bank's World Development Indicators give a poverty rate of 56.2% at Nigeria's national poverty line for 2022.
The National Bureau of Statistics publishes Nigeria's official poverty measures, including the Nigeria Living Standards Survey for income poverty and a Multidimensional Poverty Index launched in November 2022, which counts deprivations in health, education, living standards and work. The two measures answer different questions and give different shares, so a claim should say which one it uses. Poverty figures are produced only every few years.
What are the income tax rates in Nigeria?
Personal income tax in Nigeria is set by federal law and collected by state revenue services for most individuals, and by the federal tax authority for some groups. The Nigeria Revenue Service, which replaced the Federal Inland Revenue Service under the 2025 tax reforms, publishes guidance on its website; its pages could not be read automatically on 13 October 2026, so no rates are quoted here.
When checking a claim, use the tax Act in force for the year in question, since the reforms changed the bands, reliefs and exemption threshold from 2026. Laws are published by the Federal Ministry of Justice and the National Assembly.
What is the life expectancy in Nigeria?
Life expectancy at birth in Nigeria was 54.6 years in 2024, according to the World Bank's World Development Indicators.
This is a modelled estimate: because most deaths in Nigeria are not registered, the figure is built from survey data on child and adult mortality rather than from a full death register. High child mortality pulls the average down sharply, so it does not mean most adults die in their mid-fifties; people who survive childhood live considerably longer on average. Estimates from the UN and World Bank are revised when new survey rounds arrive.
Where can I find Nigeria's election results?
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declares official results for presidential, National Assembly, governorship and state assembly elections. Polling-unit result sheets are uploaded to INEC's Result Viewing Portal (IReV), where anyone can view the scanned forms by state, local government area, ward and polling unit.
The legally declared result is the one announced by the returning officer after collation, not the running totals shared on social media. IReV images are copies of polling-unit forms, so totals added up from them can differ from the collated result where forms were cancelled or disputed. Court judgments from election petitions can later change outcomes.
How many members are in Nigeria's National Assembly?
Nigeria's National Assembly has two chambers, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The National Assembly website lists current senators and House members, committees, bills, order papers and Hansard; the member lists could not be read automatically on 13 October 2026, so no count is quoted here.
Seats are fixed by the Constitution: senators represent senatorial districts in each state plus the Federal Capital Territory, and House members represent federal constituencies. The number of sitting members at any time can be lower than the number of seats because of deaths, resignations or court rulings, so check the current list rather than the constitutional total.
Source guides
- National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Nigeria
- Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
- Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)
- Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC)
Questions were chosen from the searches people make most about this country's figures, and each answer was written from the official page it links to, read on 14 October 2026. These answers give no verdict on any claim. To report an error, send a correction request.