UNFPA, puts Nigeria’s population at 195.9 million

The United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, has said that Nigeria’s population is 195.9 million at the moment.

UNFPA also stated that 76 percent of Nigerians are between ages 0 to 24.

In its UNFPA state of world population report themed “The power of choice: Reproductive rights and the demographic,” the UN agency further said that 148.8 million Nigerians are under the age of 25.

The UN report goes in contrast with National Population Commission, NPC, figures, which claimed that the country’s population was at 198 million as early as April 2018.

The UNFPA report added that 44 percent of Nigeria’s population is aged 0 to 14, while 32 percent are aged 14 to 24.

The UN agency also revealed that Nigeria has one of the highest fertility rates in the world, with less than 20 percent of married women in urban communities using a modern contraceptive method.

In rural communities within the country, less than 10 percent of married women use a modern contraceptive method, UNFPA added.

“No country can yet claim to have made reproductive rights a reality for all. Choices are limited for far too many women,” the report read.

“And this means that there are still millions of people who are having more—or fewer—children than they would like, with implications not only for individuals, but also for communities, institutions, economies, labour markets and entire nations.”

Nigeria’s population is expected to double between now and 2050.