Nigeria’s population grew by 15.9 million in four years, with the northern regions accounting for 68.67% of the new population.
This is based on figures from the latest National Bureau of Statistics report on Nigeria’s demographics, using data from the National Population Commission.
The study showed that Nigeria’s population grew from 186.1 million to 201.1 million between 2016 and 2019, an increase of 8%.
Of that increase, 10.1 million came from 19 northern states, with the region’s total population reaching 128.17 million in 2019, up from 117.8 million in 2016.
The 18 Southern states recorded population growth of 5.85 million to a total of 92.2 million, up from 86.3 million in 2016.
This means that for every 10 new children in Nigeria born between 2016 and 2019, seven were from northern states.
Southern married women opt for contraceptives
NBS data also showed that more southern Nigerian women use contraceptives to prevent pregnancy compared to northern states.
According to the NBS, Anambra State has the highest number of married women who used contraceptives for birth control (27.4%) while Yobe State had the lowest at 1.7%.
This decision is reflected in the number of children enrolled each year across the country.
In 2017, Kano State had the highest number of registered live births in the country with 415,598 while in 2018 and 2019, Borno State registered the highest in the country with 863,592 and 879,524 respectively .
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On the other hand, Bayelsa recorded the fewest national birth registrations with 220 in 2017, 234 in 2018 and 199 in 2019.
“The North West and North East continue to maintain a steady lead in birth registration in the country from (2017-2019), the two areas recorded 29.7% in 2018 and 29.1% in 2019 “, said the BES.
According to NBS records, the South East and South South are the lowest regions for birth registration.
What does that mean
From the analysis above, it shows that the population of the northern states is not only growing almost twice as fast as that of the south, but also faster than the population growth rate of Nigeria!
Nigeria’s total population growth rate in four years is 8%, southern states 6.78%, but northern states grew 8.74%.
With the rising tide of insecurity, unemployment and poverty, it is imperative that the Nigerian government implement policies to help the economy grow faster than the country’s population, otherwise the country’s problems will worsen.
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