AN APPRAISAL OF POPULATION GROWTH AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN NIGERIA 1983-2017

The study assessed the effects of population growth on the Nigerian economy from 1983 to 2017. Annual time series data were used to accomplish the targeted goals of the study. The ADF unit root test and the normality test were used to determine whether the time series data were stationary and had a uniform distribution. Both the Granger – Causality test and the cointegration test were run to determine the relationship between variables in the study. Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) method was used to estimate the models for the investigation. The hypotheses were tested using the F and t tests. From the results of the study, the variables do not have a long-term relationship. The findings indicated that during the research period, the mean death rate was 16.61 and the mean fertility rate was 6.14. The average life expectancy was 48.2, the average GDP was 33824.59 billion naira, and the average population growth was 2.58. All the variables were stationary at the first difference, according to the Augmented Dickey–Fuller test. The results showed that only the fertility rate was significant at the 5% probability level when considering the impact of population growth, fertility rate, death rate, and life expectancy on GDP, while the bounds test indicated that there was a long-term relationship between the variables. The results indicated a significant relationship between the variables, as indicated by GDP and population growth, while a long-term relationship was indicated by the bounds test. The cointegration test for GDP and life expectancy revealed a long-run relationship between the two variables. The findings indicated a 5% likelihood of a negative and significant relationship between GDP and the death rate. The study rejected the null hypothesis and accepted the alternative hypothesis since the bounds test showed that there was a long-term relationship between them. According to the study, Nigeria’s economic growth is positively impacted by population growth. It is advised that the Nigerian government increase access to affordable health care services in order to reduce death rates since they have a negative impact on economic growth and make sure that Nigerias’ growing population is properly channeled into economic sectors where they can be fully utilized to bring about economic growth for the country.