Economy and Nigerian Economy

Meaning of Economy

What does the word ‘Economy’ mean?

The word ‘economy’ refers to the mechanism through which labour, land, structures, vehicles, equipment and natural resources are organized to satisfy the desire of those who live in a society.

General Overview of the Nigerian Economy

Nigerian is a richly endowed nation in terms of her physical and human resources.

1. Nigeria’s Physical Endowments

(i) Land

Nigeria covers about 923,768 square kilometers. About 85% of the land area is suitable for agricultural production.  12.2% is covered by forest resources while 1.4% containswater bodieswhich are richly endowed for fishery.  Only about 42.3% have been put into cultivation as at 2010.

(ii) Natural Resources

Nigeria is also richly endowed with crude oil deposits. The crude oil reserve as at 2008 was 36.2 billion barrels, while crude oil production was 2.4 million barrel per day.

2. Human Resources

Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and the seventh largest in the world.  Her current total population is put at over 150million.  The breakdown is shown in the table below.

	Description	Figures
	Estimated population in 2010 (millions)	158.4
	Population density (per square km) in 2010	171.5
	Population Growth rate (% per annum) (as at 2010)	2.5
	Population aged 0-14 years in 2008 (%)	43.4
	Working Population (Millions)	69.31
	Female in Workforce (%)	38.7
	Population aged  60+ years in 2008 (%)	9.8
	Rural Population (%)	51