Population age structure and the development of the Nigerian economy: An empirical analysis

Clement Korgbeelo; Onyinyechi Nweke

Population age structure and the development of the Nigerian economy: An empirical analysis

Authors
Clement Korgbeelo, Onyinyechi Nweke

Abstract
The growth rate and other demographic properties of the population have the tendency to affect the development of a country. This study examined the impact of population age structure on the development of the Nigerian economy. In specific terms, the study investigated the impact of children population, labour force or active population, aged population and life expectancy on two indicators of economic development namely; standard of living and capital formation. Annual time series data for the period 1981 to 2020 were used for the study. The analytical techniques used for the study include the Phillips-Perron unit root test, the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model, and the Granger causality test. The findings indicated that children population strongly reduces the standard of living and insignificantly reduces the rate of capital formation. Labour force significantly contributes to the improvement in the standard of living but makes insignificant positive contribution to the rate of capital formation. Also, Aged population insignificantly deteriorates the standard of living while it makes insignificant positive contribution to capital formation in Nigeria. Life expectancy makes strong contribution to the improvement in the standard of living while it makes insignificant positive contribution to capital formation. The Granger causality tests indicated the following unidirectional causalities: from standard of living to life expectancy; from labour force to capital formation; and from life expectancy to capital formation. It is recommended, among things, that, to reduce the growth rate of the population, government should embark on public enlightenment campaign to educate the people on the need to have fewer number of children.

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