An increasing number of Nigerians are abandoning their entrepreneurial pursuits and returning to the job market.
According to the 2023 social statistics report by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the number of individuals operating as small-scale industrialists across various economic sectors stood at 170,098 in 2022.
This represents a 45% decline from the 246,200 recorded in 2020 and a decrease from 213,402 in 2021.
The new data also indicates that 76,102 Nigerians decided to end their entrepreneurial pursuits within two years.
Here is a sectoral analysis of SMEs’ decline.
2020: 56,321
2021: 49,749
2022: 39,876
2020: 19,956
2021: 12,720
2022: 8,313
2020: 39,109
2021: 36,431
2022: 36,348
2020: 33,842
2021: 28,816
2022: 23,101
2020: 27,723
2021: 20,736
