UN says Nigeria’s population has hit 211m

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has estimated Nigeria’s population to be 211.4 million.

It also estimated that the life expectancy for Nigerian men is 54 and that of women, 56.

In 2020, the UN estimated Nigeria’s population to be 206.1 million and put the life expectancy at 55 years.

The new figures are in the UNFPA’s ‘State of the World Population 2021’ report.

The report was launched by Ulla Muella, UNFPA country representative; Pauline Tallen, minister of women affairs, and Nasir Kwara, chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC) in Abuja on Tuesday.

According to the UNFPA report, Nigeria’s population increased by 2.6 percent from 2015 to 2021.

It also said Nigerians aged 15-64 are of the highest population in the country making up 53.9 percent, followed by those aged 0-14 with 43.3 percent and those aged 10-24, 32 percent.

It said Nigerians aged 10-19 make up 23.2 percent of the population while those aged 65 and above are just 2.8 percent of the population.

In December 2020, the NPC announced that Nigeria’s population is estimated to be 206 million.

Speaking on Tuesday during a press conference, Kwara, who was represented by Abubakar Danburam, the NPC federal commissioner in Gombe State, said a population census may be conducted in 2022.

He said the commission had so far completed demarcation in over 600 local government areas out of the 774 in the country and will suggest a census to President Muhammadu Buhari once the process is complete.

“It is within the purview of the President; we can’t precisely say this is the date. However, we are embarking on pre-census activities,” he said.

“These are the efforts we are making in view of the fact that census is absolutely necessary. We are on the verge of completing pre census, maybe in the next one year. We will suggest a date to Mr President and we are targeting maybe 2022.”

The last population census in Nigeria was conducted in 2006.