Migration Profile on Nigeria - IOM Publications - International ...

Figure 5: Immigrants in Nigeria by country of origin, 2000 (%)
Source: DRC, 2007.
Note: These estimates are based on 2000 Census Round data (1995–2005).
Table 6: Foreign residents in Nigeria, 2001–2005
Year
Total foreigners
Number
Of which ECOWAS citizens
Number % of total foreigners
2001 481,000 305,000 63.4
2002 495,000 314,000 63.4
2003 509,000 477,000 93.7
2004 625,000 537,000 85.9
2005 639,000 623,000 97.5
Source: ECOWAS, 2006.
Data for the inflows of immigrants are equated to be those concerning the
arrival of people in Nigeria. However, in the real sense, the data relate more to
passenger flows than immigrant flows. A way of better differentiating the latter
in any future endeavour would be to cross tabulate the number of the inflows
with the duration of stay and/or purpose of entry.
Notwithstanding, Table 18 (see annex) and Table 7 reveal an increasing
total number of immigrants arriving in the country, that is, 268,763 in 1991 (NPC,
1991), 1,044,361 in 2005 and 2,472,945 in 2006 (NIS, 2009). The recent increase
in the number of arrivals could be an indication that Nigeria is becoming a focal
point for global mobility. Figure 13 (see annex), which is based on Table 18,
shows a disproportionate number of arrivals in the 30–39 age group.
50 <strong>Migration</strong> in Nigeria: A Country <strong>Profile</strong> 2009