The Nigerian community in diaspora is perhaps, one of the largest in the globe making it the African country with the biggest diaspora presence.
The presence of Nigerians abroad is felt in countries like North America, Europe and Asia which makes them the biggest African population abroad, with the exception of French-speaking nations.
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In terms of remittances, Nigerians in the diaspora contribute the highest as noted in the $23 billion recorded as total remittances in 2023 which is almost the same size as the GDP of Africa’s bottom ten countries, Togo, Burundi, Eswatini, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Lesotho, South Sudan, Djibouti, Central African Republic (CAR), and Gambia.
10 foreign countries with the largest Nigerian population
According to data from the Migration Policy Institute, below are the top 10 countries with the largest Nigerian diaspora population (estimated):
| Rank | Country | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 353885 |
| 2 | United Kingdom | 215000 |
| 3 | Italy | 119400 |
| 4 | United Arab Emirates | 100000 |
| 5 | Brazil | 90000 |
| 6 | Germany | 83000 |
| 7 | Canada | 70000 |
| 8 | Spain | 70000 |
| 9 | South Africa | 31000 |
| 10 | France | 30000 |
Nigeria currently ranks fourth among African countries with the number of diasporans outside the continent according to Kevin Urama, Chief Economist and Vice-President of the Economic Governance and Knowledge Management, African Development Bank (AfDB) Group
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Urama also revealed that annually, an estimated 70,000 skilled professionals emigrate from Africa annually according to data from the African Union with about 58% of Nigeria’s diasporans living outside Africa, while 42% live in Africa.
The Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM) in its bid to gather accurate data for Nigerians living outside the country, launched the Data Mapping and Registry Portal in 2021.
According to the commission, Nigerians in 28 countries have registered on the portal so far. Though the commission failed to provide a figure for the total number of registered diaspora residents, data from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) puts the population of Nigerians in diaspora at about 17 million as of 2024.
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