Nigeria is amongst the most developed countries in Africa.  The economy is primarily dependent on the petroleum sector. The financial, communication and transport sectors are well developed.

Gross domestic product (GDP)

The GDP at current prices in the third quarter of 2010 was NGN 8,009.8 billion, compared to NGN 6,608.45 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. The GDP growth rate for Q3 2010 was 7.86% compared to 7.3% in Q3 2009.

(Source: nigerianstat)

Nigeria's GDP at constant prices in the third quarter of 2010 amounted to NGN 212.58 billion compared to NGN 197.08 billion in Q3 2009.

(Source: nigerianstat)

Gross national income (GNI)

Nigeria’s GNI per capita at PPP in 2010 was USD 2,156 compared to USD 1,656 in 2005.

(Source: UNDP)

Trade balance

In 2009, the trade balance was in surplus of NGN 2,386,675.3 million. Exports and imports in 2009 amounted to NGN 7,434,543.9 million and 5,047,868.6 million respectively.

(Source: nigerianstat)

Income tax

Income tax on individual incomes in Nigeria is taxed progressively up to 25%.

(Source: taxrates.cc)

Corporate tax

Standard corporate tax in Nigeria is 30%.

(Source: doingbusiness.org)

Inflation rate

The inflation rate in Nigeria in February 2011 was 0.96% compared to 1.9% for the same period in 2010. Between January 2009 and February 2011, inflation fluctuated and reported a higher rate in January 2010.

(Source:nigerianstat)

Foreign direct investment (FDI) Inflow

In Q3 2010, FDI inflows to Nigeria amounted to USD 1,185.05 million compared to USD 1,180.11 million in the same period the previous year.

(Source:cenbank.org)

Portfolio investment inflow

The portfolio Investment inflowin Q3 2010 amounted to USD 716.32 million compared to USD 389.13 million for the same period in 2009.

(Source:cenbank.org)

Banking sector assets

The table below displays the assets of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Currency Unit: Nigerian Naira (NGN)

(Source: cenbank.org)

Consumer price index

The CPI in Nigeria is on a steady rise.  In February 2011, the consumer price index was 116.7 compared to 105 for the same period the previous year.

Base, November 2009 = 100

(Source:nigerianstat)

Interest rates

Saving deposits  

The interest rate on saving deposits in Nigeria in January 2011 was 1.51%.

(Source:cenbank.org)

Money supply (currency in circulation)

Money in circulation in Q4 2009 amounted to NGN 1,181,541.9 million compared to NGN 1,155,334.6 million for the same period the previous year.

(Source: cenbank.org)

Government expenditure

In Q2-2010, the total expenditure amounted to NGN 977.7 billion, compared to NGN 894.7 billion for the same period in 2009.

(Source: cenbank.org)

Public debt

In June 2010, the public debt was NGN 4,405.18 billion. Domestic debt amounted to NGN 3,764.76 billion and external debt NGN 640.41 billion of total debt. The public debt for the first half of 2010 was 15.3% of GDP.

(Source: cenbank.org)

Official exchange rate

NGN per USD until June 2010 was 152.77, compared to 168.03 for the same period in 2009.

(Source: cenbank.org)

Government finances

Sovereign debt dynamics

Fiscal balance

In Q2 2010, the fiscal deficit amounted to NGN 150 billion compared to a deficit of NGN 375.3 billion for the corresponding quarter in 2009.

(Source: cenbank.org)

Total revenue

Nigeria's revenue in Q2 2010 was NGN 827.7 billion, an increase of approximately 59.35% from NGN 519.4 billion in Q2 2009.

(Source: cenbank.org)

Current account balance

In Q3 2010, the current account balance was 2.62% of GDP compared to 7.89% in the previous quarter.

(Source: cenbank.org)

Balance of payments

(Source: cenbank.org)

The labour force in Nigeria was 48,620,127.10 people in 2008. This was an increase of approximately 2.79% from the previous year’s 47,299,417.70 labour population.

(Source: World Bank)

Unemployment rate

The unemployment rate in Nigeria increased between 2005 and 2009. In 2009, the unemployment rate was 19.7% compared to 14.9% in 2008.

(Source: nigerianstat.gov)

In 2009, the unemployment rate for  15 to 24 year olds was 41.6%.

(Source: nigerianstat.gov)

Minimum wage

According to the National Minimum Wage Act, Nigeria's minimum wage rate is NGN 5,500.00 per month.

(Source:nigeria-law.org)

Level of unionisation

The main trade unions in Nigeria include:

·         Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)

·         Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC)

(Source: ICFTU)

Nigeria has a federal republic system of government. The federal power includes legislative, executive and judicial powers.

The legislative powers are vested in parliament, which is bicameral and includes the senate and the house of representatives. The house of representatives consists of 360 members, who are directly elected for a term of four years.  The senate has a statutory requirement of 109 members, directly elected for a term of four years.

Nigeria has a multi-party system and there are 50 political parties, with the three main parties being:

·         Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)

·         All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP)

·         Action Congress (AC)

(Source:nigeria-law.org, fco.gov.uk, IPU)

Regulatory environment

Nigeria’s economic freedom score is 56.7, making its economy the 111^th freest in the 2011 Index of Economic Freedom. Nigeria ranks 18^th out of 46 countries Sub-Saharan Africa region. Its overall score is lower than world average.

(Source:Heritage.org)

Corruption perception

The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) is a survey to measure the perceived level of corruption across countries worldwide. Nigeria is ranked 134^th on this list which indicates that the corruption levels in the public departments in Nigeria is fairly high.

Nigeria’s CPI rankings have improved since 2009 – when it was ranked 130^th with a score of 2.5 which indicates the perceived levels of corruption have increased in Nigeria.

(Source:transparency.org)

Freedom of information

Nigeria is ranked 145^th in the World Press Freedom Index 2010 with a score of 51.50 indicating that the media in Nigeria is restricted. (Source: rsf.org)

Newspapers

·         The Guardian

·         The Champion

·         The Punch

·         New Nigerian

·         Daily Trust

·         Leadership

·         This Day

·         The Daily Sun

(Source: BBC)

Judicial system

The judiciary structure in Nigeria consists of:

·         Supreme Court of Justice

·         Courts of appeal

·         the Federal High Court

·         High Court of the Federal Capital Territory

·         High Court of a State

·         Sharia Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory

·         Sharia Court of Appeal of a State

·         Customary Court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory

·         Customary Court of Appeal of a State

·         Other courts

The Supreme Court is the highest court of justice. The Supreme Court includes the Chief Justice of Nigeria and other judges.

(Source: nigeria-law.org)

In June 2010, Nigeria's total population was 158.9 million. (Source:cenbank.org)

According to the 2006 census, the total population was 140,003,242, increasing at a rate of approximately 3.82% over the previous census. 71,709,559 of the total population were male and 68,293,683 were female.

(Source: nigerianstat)

The gender ratio in Nigeria is balanced i.e. there are approximaetly 100.5 men for every 100 women.

(Source: UN)

The mortality rate of infants (per thousand live births) was 109.4 between 2005 and 2010. The mortality rate for adults in 2008 was 16 (per thousand). In 2008, the birth rate (per thousand people) was 40.

The average life expectancy at birth in Nigeria for men was 47.3 years and 48.3 years for women in 2010.

(Source: UN, World Bank, World Bank)

The population below 14 years of age made up 42.5% of the total population in 2009. In 2009, 5.2% women and 4.6% men (% of total population) were above 60 years of age.

The international migrant stock until mid 2010 was 1.1 million people. This was approximately 0.7% of the total population.

The latest figures reveal that the urban population in Nigeria grew at an annual rate of 3.8% between 2005 and 2010. For the same period, the rural population grew at a slower rate of 0.9% per year.

(Source: UN) 

In Nigeria, there are approximately 250 different ethnic groups. The main ethnic groups in Nigeria include:

·         Hausa-Fulani

·         Igbo

·         Yoruba

·         Kanuri

(Source: state.gov)

Nigeria ranked 142^nd out of 169 countries on the Human Development index 2009 conducted by the United Nations. The HDI provides a composite measure of three dimensions of human development: living a long and healthy life (measured by life expectancy), being educated (measured by adult literacy and gross enrolment in education) and having a decent standard of living (measured by purchasing power parity, PPP, income).

(Source: UNDP)

Literacy rate

In Nigeria, the total adult literacy rate in 2008 was 66%. Nigeria's adult literacy rate in 2008 for men and women was 73.8% and 58.1% respectively. In the same period, the youth literacy rate for males and females was 85.6% and 74.1% respectively.

(Source:nigerianstat)

Education resources

In Nigeria, nine years of education are compulsory. Nigeria's education structure includes pre-school education, primary education and secondary education.

(Source: UNESCO)

In 2008, Nigeria had 54,434 primary schools and 18,238 secondary schools.

(Source:nigerianstat)

Health care

The national health insurance scheme established by the government provides health services to all citizens.

The leading causes of death in Nigeria are malaria, diarrhoea, and tetanus. In 2008, there were 17,854 cases of cholera, 893,482 cases of diarhoea, 13,240 cases of pertussis, 65,804 cases of measles, 5,307,553 cases of malaria, 364,331 cases of pneumonia, 32,882 cases of tuberculosis, 7,050 cases of onchocerciasis and 47,365 new HIV/AIDS cases.

In 2008, there were 4,512 doctors, 327 dentists, 20,640 nurses, 1,229 pharmacists and 67 optometrists.

(Source: nhis.gov.ng, nigerianstat)

The main mode of public transport in Nigeria is road (mainly buses and cabs) and air travel.  Railways are operated by the Nigerian Railway Corporation.

Railways

The railway network in Nigeria includes 4,332 km of tracks covering a route length of 3,505 km.

(Source: Nigerian Railway)

Ports:  The ports in Nigeria are -Port of Apapa, Tin Can Island Port (TCIP), Port of Calabar, Escravos Oil Terminal, Port of Koko, Port of Lokoja, Port of Onitsha, Port of Onne, Port of Pennington, Port of Port Harcourt, Port of Sapele and Port of Warri.

Source: (world port source)

Airports

(Source: Air charter world)

Telecommunications networks

In 2009, 23.98 million people i.e. 16.1% of the total population used internet services compared to 3.1% in 2006.

(Source:internetworldstats.com)

The number of fixed telephone lines in Nigeria  increased from 1,027,500 in 2004 to 1,482,000 in 2009 registering a CAGR of 7.6%. The use of fixed telephone lines  increased from 0.75 per 100 people in 2004 to 0.96 per 100 people in 2009.

(Source: ITU)

The number of mobile phone subscriptions rose from 9,147,200 in 2004 to 74,518,300 in 2009 registering a CAGR of 52.1%. The ratio of mobile phone subscriptions to fixed telephone lines was 50.3:1, indicating that the number of mobile phone users in Nigeria is much higher than the use of fixed telephone lines.

(Source: ITU)