OVER 60,000 Nigerians living abroad have so far registered on the Diaspora Data Mapping Portal, an initiative of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission.
The initiative aimed at gathering detailed demographic and socio-economic data on citizens outside the country.
The portal, launched on June 29, 2021, is a central component of NiDCOM’s strategy to engage the diaspora in national planning and development.
Diasporas from over 30 countries have so far registered on the portal as of the time of filing this report.
According to data compiled from NiDCOM’s Technology, Transfer, Innovation and Investment Department by our correspondent on Monday, a significant portion of Nigerians abroad are engaged in the healthcare sector.
“Nurses constituted the largest professional group at 29.97 per cent (18,000), followed by pharmacists at 14.0 per cent and medical doctors at 12.03 per cent,” the data revealed.
The education sector also accounted for a notable 12.0 per cent of the diaspora population, while students represented 11.0 per cent.
Engineers make up 8.0 per cent of the registered Nigerians, and civil servants account for 7.0 per cent.
Other professional categories included leadership development and associate roles, each at 1.0 per cent.
Sectors such as construction engineering, the airline industry, international non-governmental organisations, and medical physiology also each contributed 1.0 per cent to the overall workforce.
The data also reflects the distribution of registered Nigerians in historical, cultural, and economic ties with host countries.
Cameroon topped the list with 6.693 per cent of total registration, followed by Niger with 6.635 per cent, and Sudan at 6.070 per cent.
The figures point to long-standing regional connections and patterns of cross-border movement, according to the portal.
Ghana accounted for nearly five per cent of the registration, while the United Kingdom holds 4.83 per cent and the United States follows closely with 4.58 per cent.
Other countries with significant Nigerian communities include Saudi Arabia (4.58 per cent), Canada (3.87 per cent), Egypt (3.19 per cent), Germany (2.94 per cent), France (2.94 per cent), India (2.90 per cent), Italy (2.61 per cent), China (2.51 per cent), South Africa (2.38 per cent), Benin (2.04 per cent), United Arab Emirates (1.65 per cent), Kenya (1.63 per cent), Senegal (1.54 per cent), and Libya (1.33 per cent).
Followed closed are Brazil (1.28 per cent), Congo (1.26 per cent), Ethiopia (1.25 per cent), Chad (1.17 per cent), Ivory Coast (1.16 per cent), Malaysia (1.12 per cent), Qatar (1.05 per cent), Central African Republic (1.0 per cent), Sierra Leone (0.88 per cent), and Turkey (0.83 per cent).
The “others” category made up 19.13 per cent of registration, indicating the widespread presence of Nigerians in various other countries not listed individually.