…Says Nigeria Falls Behind Global Averages in Women’s Employment
A new report by the World Bank has revealed a significant gender gap in Nigeria’s formal employment sector, with fewer than 11 per cent of employed women engaged in wage and salaried jobs as of 2025.
The findings, contained in the Nigeria Gender Data Landscape 2026 report, highlight that although many Nigerian women are active in the labour market, the vast majority are concentrated in informal and vulnerable forms of work that offer little income stability or social protection.
According to the report, about 80.7 per cent of women aged 15 and above are economically active. However, only 10.5 per cent of employed women are in wage-paying roles, compared to 17 per cent of men—creating a gender gap of 6.5 percentage points in access to formal employment.
The situation in Nigeria also falls short of regional and global benchmarks. Women’s participation in wage employment is below the Sub-Saharan Africa average of 16.9 per cent, significantly lower than 26.5 per cent recorded in lower-middle-income countries and far behind the global average of 54.6 per cent.
Further analysis shows that nearly nine out of every 10 working women in Nigeria are engaged outside formal wage employment, often in informal, unpaid, or insecure jobs. This is reflected in the high rate of vulnerable employment among women, which stands at 79.1 per cent, compared to 54.8 per cent for men.
The report also indicates that a notable share of women work in agriculture, accounting for 23.6 per cent of female employment, although this is lower than the 42.7 per cent recorded among men.
Despite the high level of participation in the workforce, the World Bank stressed that employment alone does not guarantee economic empowerment, noting that the quality of jobs available to women remains a major challenge. It emphasised the need to improve gender equality to boost productivity, reduce poverty, and promote inclusive economic growth.
On youth employment, the report shows that female youth unemployment stood at 6.29 per cent in 2025, lower than both the Sub-Saharan African average of 11 per cent and the global rate of 14.9 per cent. Male youth unemployment was even lower at 4.42 per cent.
However, disparities persist early in life, as 13.4 per cent of young women were not in education, employment, or training in 2024, compared to 10.5 per cent of young men.
Beyond employment, the report identifies structural barriers that continue to limit women’s economic opportunities. Legal inequality remains a major issue, with women in Nigeria enjoying only 51 per cent of the rights available to men, according to the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law index. In addition, only 49 per cent of the frameworks needed to enforce equal opportunity laws are in place, while enforcement itself operates at just 34 per cent effectiveness.
The report also noted that Nigeria recorded no reforms aimed at improving women’s economic opportunities between October 2023 and October 2025.
Gender gaps were also evident in financial inclusion. In 2024, 52.2 per cent of women had access to financial accounts, compared to 74.3 per cent of men. Similarly, only 36.5 per cent of women saved through formal financial institutions, versus 50.2 per cent of men.
Access to assets remains limited, with 88.5 per cent of women lacking land ownership as of 2018, compared to 58.9 per cent of men.
In leadership and decision-making spaces, women continue to be underrepresented. They accounted for 37.9 per cent of senior and middle management roles in 2024. Only 14.3 per cent of firms had female top managers in 2025, while women participated in ownership in just 18.4 per cent of businesses.
Political representation is similarly low, with women holding just 3.91 per cent of seats in the national parliament and 8.82 per cent of ministerial positions in 2024.
The World Bank concluded that improving women’s access to quality, wage-paying jobs is essential for unlocking economic potential and reducing poverty. It added that strengthening legal protections and ensuring effective enforcement would play a critical role in expanding opportunities for women across the country.
