ILO Report Highlights Slow Progress on SDGs as Nigeria Faces Uphill Battle
With less than five years remaining to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets, data from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) indicates that much more effort is required if Nigeria, along with other developing nations, is to achieve these ambitious objectives. The world adopted the SDGs over a decade ago with a promise to enhance human well-being, but the latest ILO findings present a mixed and concerning picture.
Global Labor Income Share Declines Amid Economic Shifts
The 2030 Agenda and its 17 SDGs were established by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 as a universal call-to-action to eradicate poverty, protect the environment, and ensure peace and prosperity for all. However, the ILO report shows that progress has been slow, uneven, or stalled on multiple fronts. Notably, the labor share of the global economy is shrinking, with the portion of gross domestic product (GDP) allocated to workers declining from 53.0 percent in 2015 to 52.6 percent in 2025. This equates to roughly $196 less per worker annually in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms.
Labor income serves as the primary livelihood source for most households, and when productivity gains disproportionately benefit capital rather than wages, economic inequality widens. The sharpest decline occurred in 2023 during the post-pandemic inflationary period, exacerbating financial strains for workers worldwide.
Persistent Working Poverty and Informal Employment in Nigeria
The report underscores that jobs alone are insufficient to escape poverty. In 2025, approximately 284 million workers globally, or 7.9 percent of the employed population, lived in extreme poverty, earning less than $3 PPP per day. This persistence of working poverty highlights that employment does not guarantee economic security. Regional disparities remain stark, with sub-Saharan Africa and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) seeing around 40 percent of workers classified as working poor, barely two percentage points below 2015 levels.
In sub-Saharan Africa, nearly half of all employed youth fall into this category, emphasizing that access to employment is necessary but not enough to alleviate poverty. Furthermore, over half of the world's workers, 57.9 percent, remain in informal employment, with sub-Saharan Africa at a staggering 87.6 percent. Informal employment typically lacks social protection, legal safeguards, sick leave, and other standard protections, indicating the structural nature of informality in labor markets.
Youth NEET Rates and Gender Disparities Worsen
The global share of young people not in employment, education, or training (NEET) increased slightly from 19.9 percent in 2024 to 20.0 percent in 2025, with projections reaching 20.2 percent by 2027. This trend reversal from a recent low of 19.7 percent in 2023 is alarming, as four million additional young people entered NEET status in 2025 alone. Early and prolonged exclusion from employment and education can have long-term scarring effects on career paths.
Gender gaps persist in the world of work, with women earning 52.4 percent of men's total labor income globally in 2025, up from 49.4 percent in 2015. Among employees, women earn an average of 78 cents for every dollar earned by male employees annually. Contributing factors include unequal access to education and training, the disproportionate burden of unpaid care work, pay opacity, and weak enforcement of non-discrimination frameworks.
Social Protection Coverage Remains Inadequate
On social protection, the ILO report notes that for the first time, more than half of the world's population (52.4 percent) is covered by at least one social protection benefit, up from 42.8 percent in 2015. However, 3.8 billion people still lack any protection. High-income countries approach universal coverage at 85.9 percent, while low-income countries like Nigeria reach only 9.7 percent, barely changed since 2015.
Nigeria's SDG Progress: Achievements and Challenges
Nigeria has made slow but notable strides toward the 2030 SDGs through infrastructural development, health improvements, and youth-led initiatives. Key achievements include reducing gender disparities in school enrolment, enhancing maternal health, passing the Not Too Young to Run Bill, expanding electricity access, implementing school feeding programmes, and launching economic empowerment schemes.
Despite these efforts, Nigeria ranks 146 out of 166 countries in the 2024 Sustainable Development Report, with only one goal—responsible consumption and production—showing marked progress. Structural barriers such as widespread insecurity, high unemployment rates, and corruption hinder most targets. The COVID-19 pandemic has further slowed progress on gender equality and increased economic hardship.
The Federal Government has integrated the SDGs into national development strategies, ensuring progress is reflected in yearly budgets. However, a policy brief by the African Centre for Leadership, Strategy and Development highlights ongoing challenges. While progress has been made in maternal health, gender equality in school enrolment, and microenterprise development, Nigeria faces setbacks due to widespread poverty, education gaps, gender inequality, inadequate healthcare, and insecurity.
Systemic weaknesses include under-reporting of activities, limited technology use for monitoring, insufficient engagement of subnational governments and non-state actors, and misalignment between the SDGs and Nigeria's long-term development plan, Agenda 2050. The centre recommends exploring alternative funding strategies, mainstreaming SDG implementation across sectors, strengthening institutional frameworks, and expanding civil society and private sector engagement. Prioritizing infrastructure, agriculture, education, and health is crucial for accelerating SDG progress.
Many indicators fall under Goal 8, which aims to promote sustained, inclusive economic growth, full employment, and decent work for all. With less than five years remaining, the trajectory for several indicators points away from the 2030 targets rather than toward them. How the final years of the SDG era unfold remains uncertain, demanding urgent action from Nigeria and the global community.
