In a report titled ‘Global Economic Outlook’, KPMG a professional services firm stated that Nigeria’s unemployment rate will rise further to 40.6 percent in 2023.
“Unemployment is expected to continue to be a major challenge in 2023 due to the limited investment by the private sector, low industrialization, and slower than required economic growth and consequently the inability of the economy to absorb the 4?5 million new entrants into the Nigerian job market every year,” KPMG said in a report.
The National Bureau of Statistics recorded an increase in the national unemployment rate from 23.1% in 2018 to 33.3% in 2020. KPMG has estimated that this rate has increased to 37.7% in 2022 and will rise further to 40.6% in 2023.
KPMG projected that Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) would continue to grow at a relatively slow pace of three percent in 2023.
KPMG further projected that the incoming administration would face a deeply rooted challenging environment characterized by fragile and slow economic growth and challenges in the foreign exchange market.
It added that government revenue remained inadequate to support much-needed expenditures, leading to a high debt stock and high debt service payments.