IMPACT OF POPULATION GROWTH ON POVERTY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of population growth on poverty rate in Nigeria over the period: 1986 to 2021. To achieve this objective, time series data was collected mainly from National Population Commission (NPC) and National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The data was tested for stationarity using Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) and Phillips Perron (PP) techniques. The results indicate the nonstationary of the variables. That is, both population growth and poverty rate time series are integrated of order one I(1). The study tested for cointegration using Johensen cointegration and the result indicates the presence of cointegration among the variables of study. Considering the integration and cointegration nature of the data, Dynamic Ordinary Least Square was estimated to avoid the possible problems of spurious regression and serial correlation. The result revealed a significant negative long-run impact of population growth on poverty in in Nigeria. Based on the empirical findings this study recommends that both government, households, private sector and nongovernmental organisations should focus in building productive population in Nigeria.