Only 11% of workers have retirement savings account, says NBS

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said that only 10.93 per cent of workers in the country population have a retirement savings account (RSA), as at the second quarter (Q2) of 2017.

This means that more than 89 per cent of the nation’s workforce does not have RSAs.NBS, however, noted in its latest report that the assessment was based on available data, and that the 2017 second report data would be updated as soon as it was available.

“The RSAs membership distribution data for Q2, 2017 reflected that 7,589,936 workers are registered under the pension scheme compared to 7,493,590 registered workers in Q1, 2017 out of a working population of 69,470,901 recorded as at Q4, 2016. This represents 10.93 per cent of workers,” the report said.

It, however, said the figure was not surprising, giving the informal structure of the Nigerian workforce, with about 50 per cent engaged in subsistence agriculture and petty business. Micro businesses for example, it said, accounts for over 90 per cent of Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.

The NBS stated that RSAs was dominated by the private sector, stating: “The federal workers constitute 1,898,199 registered RSAs under the national pensions scheme as at Q2 2017 of which 1,384,579 or 72.94 per cent were male and 513,620 or 27.06 per cent were female.

“This compares to 1,889,143 registered RSAs of which 1,378,382 or 72.96 per cent were male and 510,761 or 27.04 per cent were female in Q1, 2017. This may indicate that there are a lot more male employees in the public service than females”.

It also stated that at the state and local government levels, 1,537,138 workers were registered under the national pensions scheme with 863,605 or 56.18 per cent male and 673,533 or 43.82 per cent female as at Q2 2017 compared to 1,525,748 registered workers of which 858,365 or 56.26 per cent were male and 667,383 or 43.74 per cent were female in Q1 2017.

This, the report noted, indicated that the federal public service was larger than that of the 36 states combined and similar to the federal service with men dominating in the number of employees.

“Private firms had 4,154,599 registered RSAs under the pension scheme as at Q1 2017 of which 3,143,703 or 75.67 per cent were male and 1,010,896 or 24.33 per cent were female compared to 4,078,699 registered RSAs of which 3,091,288 or 75.79 per cent were male and 987,411 or 24.21 per cent were female in Q1 2017,” the report added.