ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in in Nigeria
Nigeria: ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in was 42.7 % in 2025. ▼ Falling
ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in in Nigeria, 1991–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
Nigeria recorded 42.7 % for ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 1.4% on the previous year and down 10.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in in Nigeria peaked at 60.2 % in 1994 and was at its lowest, 42.7 %, in 2025.
That places Nigeria 27th out of 175 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.
ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in in Nigeria, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 60.1 % | — |
| 1992 | 59.8 % | -0.5% |
| 1993 | 60.1 % | +0.5% |
| 1994 | 60.2 % | +0.2% |
| 1995 | 60.2 % | +0.0% |
| 1996 | 60 % | -0.3% |
| 1997 | 59.8 % | -0.3% |
| 1998 | 59.6 % | -0.3% |
| 1999 | 59.4 % | -0.3% |
| 2000 | 58.9 % | -0.8% |
| 2001 | 58.5 % | -0.7% |
| 2002 | 58.1 % | -0.7% |
| 2003 | 57.4 % | -1.2% |
| 2004 | 56.4 % | -1.7% |
| 2005 | 55.7 % | -1.2% |
| 2006 | 54.9 % | -1.4% |
| 2007 | 54.2 % | -1.3% |
| 2008 | 53.5 % | -1.3% |
| 2009 | 52.7 % | -1.5% |
| 2010 | 51.5 % | -2.3% |
| 2011 | 50.5 % | -1.9% |
| 2012 | 50 % | -1.0% |
| 2013 | 49.3 % | -1.4% |
| 2014 | 48.4 % | -1.8% |
| 2015 | 47.9 % | -1.0% |
| 2016 | 47.9 % | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 47.7 % | -0.4% |
| 2018 | 47.4 % | -0.6% |
| 2019 | 47 % | -0.8% |
| 2020 | 47.1 % | +0.2% |
| 2021 | 45.6 % | -3.2% |
| 2022 | 44.2 % | -3.1% |
| 2023 | 43.9 % | -0.7% |
| 2024 | 43.3 % | -1.4% |
| 2025 | 42.7 % | -1.4% |
Nigeria compared with similar countries
- Nigeria's 42.7 % is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 34.7 %, 1.2× the median. (40 countries reporting)
- Nigeria's 42.7 % is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 42.7 %, 1.0× the median. (43 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 59.91 % | 59.4 % | 60.2 % | 9 |
| 2000s | 56.03 % | 52.7 % | 58.9 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 48.76 % | 47 % | 51.5 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 44.47 % | 42.7 % | 47.1 % | 6 |
Countries ranked near Nigeria
More agriculture & rural data for Nigeria
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 2.38 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.2298 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 281.32 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate -0.1218 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0003 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.3622 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 23.0% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 23.0% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.4% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.6% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in in Nigeria?
- Ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in in Nigeria was 42.7 % in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in recorded in Nigeria?
- The highest recorded value was 60.2 % in 1994.
- What is the lowest ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in recorded in Nigeria?
- The lowest recorded value was 42.7 % in 2025.
- How does Nigeria rank for ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in?
- Nigeria ranks 27th out of 175 countries with data for 2025.
- Is ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in rising or falling in Nigeria?
- Over the last ten years it is down 10.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Nigeria data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in total employment - ILO Modelled Estimates — Male — Value. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 35 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
The FAOSTAT Employment indicators domain focuses on indicators related to employment in agrifood systems and rural areas. The update is performed yearly, using data from the International Labour Organization (ILO) database that contains a rich set of indicators from a wide range of topics related to labour statistics. The indicators published in FAOSTAT are derived from the labour force statistics (LFS) and rural and urban labour markets (RURURB) databases of the ILOSTAT database. In addition, the ILO modelled estimates and projections (ILOEST) are used to provide information on employment in agriculture. FAOSTAT also publishes indicators on employment in agrifood systems (AFS) from 2000 at the national, regional, and global levels, using a methodology developed by the FAO to estimate the number of people employed within these systems.