The Federal Government has placed Nigeria’s housing deficit at 14.925 million units, providing what officials describe as the most accurate estimate yet of the country’s housing shortfall.
The figure was presented by the National Housing Data Technical Committee, inaugurated by the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, during a technical session at the 14th National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development.
Until now, estimates of Nigeria’s housing deficit have varied widely, with industry stakeholders often placing the gap at over 20 million units, largely based on projections rather than verifiable data.
Presenting the findings, the Chairman of the Committee and Director at the Nigeria Mortgage Refinance Company (NMRC), Dr. Taofeek Olatinwo, said the new estimate was derived from a more scientific and data-driven process under the National Housing Data Programme.
According to him, the revised figure reflects a rigorous analysis based on internationally accepted housing adequacy standards, rather than assumptions that have dominated public discourse in recent years.
“The estimate of 14.925 million housing units for 2025 is based on validated data sources and housing adequacy indices, including the number of persons per room, household surveys, and population and housing census data,” Olatinwo explained.
He noted that the methodology aligns with global best practices for measuring housing deficits and offers a clearer picture of the true scale of Nigeria’s housing challenge.
The data revealed that Nigeria’s housing shortfall remains driven by multiple structural factors, including rapid population growth, accelerating urbanisation, limited access to long-term housing finance, land acquisition and title constraints, and inadequate housing supply across several regions of the country.
Olatinwo stressed that while the revised figure is lower than previous estimates, it should not diminish the urgency of addressing the housing crisis.
“A housing deficit of nearly 15 million units is still enormous. What this data gives us is clarity—clarity that allows government, lenders, developers, and investors to plan properly and intervene more effectively,” he said.
Speaking at the session, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, welcomed the development, describing reliable housing data as a long-standing gap in the sector.
“For years, the housing sector has suffered from the absence of reliable, centralised, and actionable data. Without credible data, planning becomes guesswork, investment becomes speculative, and monitoring progress becomes extremely difficult,” the minister said.
Dangiwa said the new housing deficit estimate would serve as a foundation for more targeted policy decisions and reforms, particularly in affordable housing delivery and housing finance.
He added that credible data would also strengthen investor confidence in the sector and improve coordination between federal and state governments.
The presentation formed part of the broader work of the National Housing Data Technical Committee, a multi-agency platform coordinated by NMRC in collaboration with key institutions including the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), National Population Commission (NPC), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN), Federal Housing Authority (FHA), and other housing sector stakeholders.
Under the National Housing Data Programme, the Committee is spearheading efforts to establish a National Housing Data Centre, a central platform designed to aggregate, standardise, and disseminate housing and mortgage market data.
The proposed data centre is expected to support policy formulation, housing delivery planning, and the development of long-term housing finance, while also improving transparency in the housing market.
Olatinwo explained that accurate housing data is essential for designing sustainable interventions that expand access to affordable housing, particularly for low- and middle-income households.
“Reliable housing data allows us to measure the problem correctly. When you measure accurately, you can allocate resources efficiently, target interventions properly, and track progress over time,” he said.
The latest housing deficit figure reinforces ongoing calls for coordinated reforms in land administration, housing supply, infrastructure provision, and mortgage finance expansion to close the gap.
The National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development, where the data was presented, remains the highest intergovernmental policy forum on housing and urban development in Nigeria. It brings together federal and state governments to deliberate on sector priorities, reforms, and implementation strategies.
With the new data now available, stakeholders say attention must shift from debating the size of the deficit to accelerating solutions that can deliver affordable and decent housing at scale.
