The National Population Commission has stated that the population of Nigeria currently stands at 167 million.
The Director-General of the NPC, Mr. Jamin Zubema in an interview with our correspondent in Abuja also said the growth rate of the nation’s population is 2.3 per cent per annum.
He said, “Every minute new people are born while others are dying. The population of any country is dynamic and changes.
“If asked about the present population of Nigeria, you have to give a population with a reference date. And that is why we are using 2006.”
Speaking further on the growth rate of the population per annum, Zubema said, “You know the inter-census growth rate is established between the two censuses: 1991 and 2006 and it stands at 2.3 per cent per annum.
“The birth rate as established in the Demographic and Health Survey is 40 per 1000 now, while death rate is 16 per 1000. You cannot be exact, that is crude measure because if you take the number of people that die in one year and divide it by the population, it will be approximately 16 persons by 1000.”
The NPC boss was however, not specific on the projections for the 2016 national census.
He said, “Projections are things you can do even beyond 2016. So, if you have a growth rate and you have a base population, you can even calculate for the next 100 years.
“There are not the exact records about birth rates, death rates and the population of Nigeria. I will have to do some calculations to get projections.”
On the commission’s preparation for the next census he said, “We are just at the initial stage and we are drawing a strategy document for implementation and then we will go into the proper work.
“It is too early to talk about the money needed for the exercise; by the time we draw our strategy document you will get an exact answer.”
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