Youth unemployment stands at 8%, way over national rate

Highlights

• Total labour force:  2.68 crore
• National unemployment rate: 3.53%
• Youth unemployment rate: 8%
• Male unemployment: 16.6 lakh 
• Female unemployment: 9.2 lakh

The youth unemployment rate in 2022 emerged as a pressing issue, with the figures more than doubling the national level, as shown in the final labour force survey report revealed on Wednesday.

In a country with a labour force of 2.68 crore individuals aged 15-29, a significant 21.5 lakh, representing 8%, have been found unemployed, marking a stark contrast to the national unemployment rate of 3.53%, a situation that underscores the formidable challenges that young people face in their quest for employment.

What's particularly striking is the educational background of these unemployed youth. The largest share, 27.8%, holds tertiary degrees, followed by those with secondary school completion at 23.8%, and higher secondary graduates at 19.7%.

Among these unemployed youths, a significant 70.9% originate from rural areas, with the remaining from urban regions.

The youth unemployment rate is defined as the proportion of unemployed young individuals relative to the total number within the youth labour force.

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), unemployed persons are defined as all those of working age who were not in employment, carried out activities to seek employment during a specified recent period and were currently available to take up employment given a job opportunity. This definition was followed in the survey conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS).

There were an estimated 25.8 lakh people aged 15 and older who were unemployed. Male unemployment stood at 16.6 lakh while female unemployment stood at 9.2 lakh. Of them, 16.7 lakh were aged 15–24 years and 8.9 lakh were aged 25 years and above.

There were 18.1 lakh unemployed people in rural areas and 7.7 lakh in urban areas. 

The unemployment rate was 3.53% at the national level. The female unemployment rate was 3.59% which was almost the same as male counterparts 3.50%.

According to the BBS survey, the youth population aged 15 to 29 years who are not in education, employment or training is defined as "Not in Education, Employment or Training" (NEET) Among youth, a total of 96.5 lakh (22%) were NEET while males accounted for 3.33 million (16.2%) and females 6.32 million (27.1%) Regionally 47.6% of the NEET youth were found in rural areas and 52.4% in urban areas.

The BBS report shows the unemployment rate for literate persons is higher than for illiterate persons in both urban and rural areas for both sexes. Literate persons reflected the higher unemployment rate for females in urban areas, at 8.52%, compared with 3.14% for females in rural areas and 4.03% at the national level for female literate persons. A wide gap is evident between the unemployment rate by literacy and illiteracy.

Female unemployment rate decreased

According to the BBS report, the unemployment rate in 2010 was 4.6%, where the male unemployment rate was 4.1% and the female unemployment rate was 5.8%. Compared to 2022, the unemployment rate in total is 3.53%, the male unemployment rate is 3.51%, and the female unemployment rate is 3.57%.