Share of workers employed in services vs. GDP per capita in Nigeria

Nigeria: Share of workers employed in services vs. GDP per capita was 31.6% in 2011. ▲ Rising

Latest (2011)
31.6%
Change on year
down 5.1%
World rank
39th
of 44 countries
All-time high
52.2%
in 1984
All-time low
16.6%
in 1960
Years of data
52
1960–2011

Share of workers employed in services vs. GDP per capita in Nigeria, 1960–2011

20304050196019852011

Source: Herrendorf et al. and Groningen Growth and Development Centre (2015) – processed by Our World in Data. Measured in %.

Analysis

In 2011, share of workers employed in services vs. gdp per capita in Nigeria stood at 31.6%.

The figure is down 5.1% on the previous year and up 1.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, share of workers employed in services vs. gdp per capita in Nigeria peaked at 52.2% in 1984 and was at its lowest, 16.6%, in 1960.

That places Nigeria 39th out of 44 countries with data for 2011, putting it in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 52 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 20.5% 16.6% 24.0% 10
1970s 31.7% 27.0% 38.6% 10
1980s 48.0% 42.1% 52.2% 10
1990s 38.6% 34.2% 44.0% 10
2000s 32.4% 29.8% 33.6% 10
2010s 32.5% 31.6% 33.3% 2

Countries ranked near Nigeria

  1. 36 China 36.2% compare
  2. 36 Kenya 36.2% compare
  3. 38 Senegal 34.7% compare
  4. 40 India 26.1% compare
  5. 41 Malawi 25.7% compare
  6. 42 Tanzania 23.8% compare

See the full ranking of 44 places →

More work & labour data for Nigeria

All data for Nigeria →

Frequently asked questions

What is share of workers employed in services vs. gdp per capita in Nigeria?
Share of workers employed in services vs. gdp per capita in Nigeria was 31.6% in 2011, according to Herrendorf et al. and Groningen Growth and Development Centre (2015) – processed by Our World in Data.
What is the highest share of workers employed in services vs. gdp per capita recorded in Nigeria?
The highest recorded value was 52.2% in 1984.
What is the lowest share of workers employed in services vs. gdp per capita recorded in Nigeria?
The lowest recorded value was 16.6% in 1960.
How does Nigeria rank for share of workers employed in services vs. gdp per capita?
Nigeria ranks 39th out of 44 countries with data for 2011.
Is share of workers employed in services vs. gdp per capita rising or falling in Nigeria?
Over the last ten years it is up 1.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Nigeria data come from?
The figures come from Herrendorf et al. and Groningen Growth and Development Centre (2015) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of workers employed in services vs. GDP per capita. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 52 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Share of workers employed in services vs. GDP per capita
Unit
%
Source
Herrendorf et al. and Groningen Growth and Development Centre (2015) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
44 places, 2,481 data points, 1801–2015
Last refreshed

The vertical axis shows historical estimates of the employment share in the service sector. The horizontal axis shows GDP per capita, adjusted for inflation and differences in living costs between countries.