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Approximately 60,000 Nigerians residing overseas have registered on the Diaspora Data Mapping Portal, a project initiated by the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM).
The goal of this initiative is to collect comprehensive demographic and socio-economic information about citizens living outside Nigeria.
The portal, which was launched on June 29, 2021, plays a vital role in NiDCOM’s strategy for involving the diaspora in national planning and development efforts.
As of the time of this report, Nigerians from over 30 different countries have registered on the portal.
Data gathered by NiDCOM's Technology, Transfer, Innovation, and Investment Department indicates that a large segment of Nigerians abroad work in the healthcare sector.
“Nurses make up the largest professional group at 29.97 percent, followed by pharmacists at 14.0 percent and medical doctors at 12.03 percent,” the data shows.
The education sector also comprises a significant 12.0 percent of the diaspora, while students account for 11.0 percent. Engineers represent 8.0 percent of the registrants, and civil servants make up 7.0 percent.
Other professional categories include leadership development and associate roles, each at 1.0 percent.
Sectors such as construction engineering, the airline industry, international non-governmental organizations, and medical physiology also contributed 1.0 percent each to the overall workforce.
The data highlights the geographical distribution of registered Nigerians based on historical, cultural, and economic connections with their host countries.
Cameroon leads the list with 6.693 percent of total registrations, followed closely by Niger with 6.635 percent and Sudan at 6.070 percent.
These figures suggest established regional ties and trends of cross-border migration. Ghana accounts for nearly five percent of registrations, while the United Kingdom has 4.83 percent and the United States trails with 4.58 percent. Other nations with notable Nigerian populations include Saudi Arabia (4.58 percent), Canada (3.87 percent), Egypt (3.19 percent), Germany (2.94 percent), France (2.94 percent), India (2.90 percent), Italy (2.61 percent), China (2.51 percent), South Africa (2.38 percent), Benin (2.04 percent), United Arab Emirates (1.65 percent), Kenya (1.63 percent), Senegal (1.54 percent), and Libya (1.33 percent).
Also included are Brazil (1.28 percent), Congo (1.26 percent), Ethiopia (1.25 percent), Chad (1.17 percent), Ivory Coast (1.16 percent), Malaysia (1.12 percent), Qatar (1.05 percent), Central African Republic (1.0 percent), Sierra Leone (0.88 percent), and Turkey (0.83 percent).
The “others” category constitutes 19.13 percent of registrations, reflecting the extensive presence of Nigerians across various other countries not detailed individually.
