The National Bureau of Statistics(NBS) says one out of four individuals aged 15 years and above would like to leave their communities permanently or at least temporarily.

The NBS said this in its General Household Survey- Panel (GHS-Panel) Wave 5 2023/2024 unveiled in Abuja on Thursday.

The report showed that more men aged 15 years and above wanted to leave their communities, representing 31. 2 per cent compared to women at 19.3 per cent.

It said among age groups, 34.5 per cent of people between 20 and 30 years of age would like to migrate.

“This was followed by those between ages 15 and 18 at 26.9 per cent and those between ages 31 and 64 at 25 per cent.

“Among people ages 65 and above, only 6.5 per cent said they would like to leave their communities,” the NBS stated.

The report said that among those who would like to migrate, 35.3 per cent would like to move to Abuja, and 26.6 per cent would like to relocate to another country.

The report revealed that those in the Southern zones predominantly reported that they would like to relocate to another country, while individuals in the Northern zones preferred to move to Abuja or another state.

The NBS said that nationally, 45.4 per cent of households had at least one former household member who had relocated within and outside the country.

According to the report, half of those former household members are females.

The report said marriage was the main reason former household members had relocated at 28.2 per cent, followed by those who had gone to live with relatives or friends at 21.2 per cent.

“This was followed by those who went to look for/start a new job or business at 14.6 per cent,” it said.

The report showed that urban households were less likely to have a former member who had migrated, with a reported 37 per cent share compared to 49.3 per cent of rural area households.

The GHS-Panel is Nigeria’s nationally representative longitudinal household survey, which began in 2010 and implemented five waves of the study.

The panel nature of the data enables tracking household-level changes in critical areas of welfare, work, and socio-economic outcomes over time, yielding insights for policy.

(NAN)