Eniola Akinkuotu, Abuja



Nigeria’s economic capital, Lagos State, has the lowest number of births at 3.4 children per woman.

Conversely, Katsina State in the North-West has the highest birth rate at 7.3 births per woman.

The information is contained in the 2018 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey key findings launched on Tuesday.

The report states that the birth rate in urban areas is much lower than that of rural areas.

According to the survey, the total birth rate in Nigeria is 5.3 children per woman.

The second lowest birth rate in Nigeria is Akwa Ibom which is 3.6 births per woman followed by Cross River which is 3.7 births per woman.

Other states with high birth rates include Bauchi and Jigawa which have a birth rate of 7.2 and 7.1 respectively.

The troubled North-East states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe also have high birth rates at 6.1, 5.2 and 5.9 children per woman.

The report states in part, “Currently, women in Nigeria have an average of 5.3 children. Since 1990, fertility has decreased from 6.0 children per woman to the current level.

“Fertility varies by residence and state. Women in rural areas have an average of 5.9 children compared to 4.5 children among urban women. By state, fertility ranges from 3.4 children per woman in Lagos to 7.3 children per woman in Katsina.

“Fertility also varies with education and household wealth. Women with no education have twice as many children as women with more than secondary education. Fertility decreases as the wealth of the respondent’s household increases.”

The report adds that women living in the poorest households have an average of 6.7 children, compared to 3.8 children among women living in the wealthiest households.

The survey further shows that Lagos has the lowest rate of teenage pregnancy at just one per cent while Bauchi has the highest at 41 per cent.

It states that 44 per cent of teenage girls with no education have begun childbearing compared to one per cent of teenage girls with more than secondary education.

The NDHS report was conducted by the National Population Commission in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Health.

Other partners involved in the survey which was launched in Abuja on Tuesday include- the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, World Health Organisation, United States Agency for International Development, Global Fund and UNFPA.

oz4real83:
High birth rate is one of the characteristics of a country with a high unemployment rate. Provide more jobs and you will see how fast birth rate drops. A person that left home very early for work and came home late won't even bother much about sex. The things on that person's mind will be to bath, eat, sleep and prepare the body for the next day's work. Unemployed and under-employed people contribute up to 85% of total new births.

mekaboy:
Stress in Lagos will negatively affect libido , sperm count and female egg production.

oz4real83:
High birth rate is one of the characteristics of a country with a high unemployment rate. Provide more jobs and you will see how fast birth rate drops. A person that left home very early for work and came home late won't even bother much about sex. The things on that person's mind will be to bath, eat, sleep and prepare the body for the next day's work. Unemployed and under-employed people contribute up to 85% of total new births.

grandstar:


Unemployment or employment isn5 the reason for the high fertility. As the report shows, education plays probably the biggest role, the better people are educated, the less likely they are to have children and vice versa.

Nowadays, most graduates rarely go beyond 3. Many even stop at 2. I.know many who have stopped at one. A few don't even have children.

kingkakaone:

Your analysis is right.
I told my friend that we have too many out of school and helpless children and that I may either decide to adopt and have only one from my future woman or not have any at all but his reaction shocked me.

Why do some Nigerians see adoption as wrong?

NigeriaIsDoomed:
Read u no go read. Wey dem memtion stress as a factor?

tayebest:



Those malo guys no dey use condom to fxxk. They impregnate there wife at the slightest opportunity.


The painful part is that, they'll eventually flood the street with almajiri