AN ANALYSIS ON THE IMPACT OF POPULATION GROWTH ON THE ECONOMY OF NIGERIA
AN ANALYSIS ON THE IMPACT OF POPULATION GROWTH ON THE ECONOMY OF NIGERIA

Summary/Abstract: The impact of population growth on the economy has always been a subject of conflict and disharmonyamong economists. Some postulated that population growth could lead to sustainable economicgrowth; while others asserted that population growth could be detrimental to economicgrowth. However, population growth in Nigeria put pressure on the economic resources, whichleads to low level of productivity and standard of living. The methodology adopted for this study isthe regression method using secondary data. The analysis was carried out using the Trend Analysis,Descriptive Stastistics, Ordinary Least Square Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) stationarity testcombined with Granger Causality, Error Correction Model and Cointegration tests. The resultfrom the trend analysis shows that the structure of Nigeria population has been increasing steadilysince 1994 till 2014. The result from the ordinary least square revealed that there is a positiverelationship between economic growth (proxy by GDP per capita),population growth, food productionindex and human development index; while negative relationships was found between economicgrowth (proxy by GDP per capita) and fossil fuel energy consumption. The result of theordinary least square also revealed that population growth is a stimulus to economic growth inNigeria. The result from the Granger Causality shows that there is a unidirectional relationshipbetween population growth and economic growth. This paper recommends that the average populationgrowth rate of Nigeria should be maintained since it is found to impact positively on economicgrowth in Nigeria. It recommends that it is important that efforts should be channeled towardsgrowing Nigeria economy, since economic growth causes an increase in population growth.It recommends that population growth should also be taken as a blessing not a curse, since it haslong run equilibrium with economic growth. This paper also recommends that the Governmentshould make concerted effort to check population growth rate.

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