Unemployment rate in Pakistan rises to 7.1% in last five years: survey

• Bachelor’s degree holders report 10.9% unemployment rate: survey
• The LFS shows 59.4 million men and 17.8 million women among the unemployed.
• The female unemployment rate of 14.9% peaked in the 25-34 age group.

Islamabad: Amid prevailing socio-economic woes facing the country, unemployment is emerging as another challenge reflecting an increase over the last five years and reaching 7.1% in 2024-25 compared to the previous 6.3% in 2020-21, The News it said on Wednesday, citing the Labor Force Survey (LFS).

With the LFS highlighting an increase in the unemployed from 4.51 million in 2020-21 to 5.9 million in 2024-25, the unemployment rate figures — as per the 19th ICLS (New International Standards) — show that in the LFS 2024-25, the highest unemployment rate 2024-25 follows the unemployment rate 96b. (7.3%), Balochistan (5.5%) and Sindh province (5.3%).

Average monthly income increased from Rs 24,028 in 2020-21 to Rs 39,042 in 2024-25.

Federal Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal launched LFS 2024-25 along with Planning Secretary Awais Manzur Sumra and Chief Statistician Pakistan Bureau of Statistics Dr Naeemuz Zafar, stating that the IMF program has squeezed demand and economic activities and secondly, Pakistan has gone through two climate disasters, overall increasing the rate of climate unemployment.

“The IMF program constrained the economy and prices went up, but now macroeconomic stability had been achieved. Now the economic recovery will create employment opportunities,” the Planning Minister said.

The minister again blamed the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led regime for derailing the economy during its 2018-2022 administration.

The number of unemployed increased from (4.51) million in the 2020-21 EY to (5.90) ​​million in the 2024-25 EY. This represents an increase of (1.39) million. The increase is more pronounced among men, with an increase of (0.79) million, compared to (0.59) million among women. The percentage of unemployed men decreased from 66.7% to 64.6%, while the percentage of unemployed women increased from 33.3% to 35.4%.

The overall unemployment rate is (7.1%) in the 2024-25 AED, with a rate of (6.0%) for men and (10.5%) for women. The highest unemployment rate (12.9%) is recorded in the youth age group (15-24) followed by (8.3%) in the age group (25-34).

The female unemployment rate (14.9%) peaked in the (25-34) age group, while the male unemployment rate (12.5%) is highest among the (15-24) age group. On the contrary, the age group (65+) had the lowest unemployment rate (0.8%).

The unemployment rate increased among people with no education (3.2% to 4.4%), below-maternal (4.9% to 6.0%) and intermediate from (11.7% to 12.5%). Conversely, the unemployment rate decreased among those with a mother’s degree (8.6% to 8.4%), bachelor’s degree holders (16.3% to 10.9%) and those with a master’s degree, M.Phil. or PhDs (12.2% to 11.7%).

The highest male unemployment rate is seen among those with a secondary education (9.7%), while alarmingly the highest female unemployment rate is observed among those with a bachelor’s degree or higher education (23.9%). Men represented (51.2%) the working age population but were overrepresented in the labor force.

In contrast, women made up (48.8%) of the working-age population, but were underrepresented in the labor force, accounting for (25.0%).

In addition, the percentage of unemployed men decreased from (66.7%) to (64.6%), while the percentage of unemployed women increased from (33.3%) to (35.4%).

The percentage of graduates among the unemployed is higher (14.8%) than among the employed (8.9%). Among the literate employed workforce, over 73.4% (seven out of 10) are below the secondary education category. The labor force of Pakistan is (83.14 million), KP (12.48 million), Punjab (48.15 million), Sindh (18.52 million) and Balochistan (3.98 million) in LFS 2024-25. The size of the labor force is greater in the case of rural than urban areas in all provinces.

The total labor force increased from (71.76) million in AED 2020-21 to (85.62) million in AED 2024-25. This shows an increase of (3.5) million per year.

The labor force volume is increasing in KP (2.68) million KP, Punjab (7.54) million, Sindh (3.21) million and Balochistan (0.44) million respectively. The change in the profile of the province is more pronounced in the case of rural than urban areas.

The total employed population in Pakistan during 2024-25 is (77.2) million, which includes (59.4) million males and (17.8) million females.

Employment is predominantly rural, with (50.6) million employed compared to (26.7) million in urban areas.

Among the provinces, Punjab accounts for the largest share of employment (44.7) million, followed by Sindh (17.5) million, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (11.3) million and Balochistan (3.8) million. Female employment is particularly higher in rural areas (14.2) million, particularly in Punjab (12.4) million.

The number of people employed increased significantly, from 67.25 million in EY 2020-21 to (79.73 million including 2.48 million own-use producers) in EY 2024-25, adding (12.48 million) people to the labor force.

This represents an average annual increase (3.12 million) of people in the employed labor force. The increase is more pronounced in rural areas, with an addition of (6.99 million), against (5.49 million) in urban areas. The annual increase in rural areas is (1.7 million), while in urban areas it is (1.4 million).

Employment growth is seen in all provinces, with notable increases in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (2.39 million), Punjab (6.87 million), Sindh (2.85 million) and Balochistan (0.37 million) over the comparative periods.

Moreover, in all four provinces, the increase in male employment exceeds that of female employment. Overall, (33.1%) of those employed are in agriculture, forestry and fishing, followed by (16.0%) in wholesale and retail trade, (14.8%) in manufacturing, (9.9%) in construction, (6.6%) in transport, storage and communications and (17.9%) in community, social and personal services.

A small percentage (1.6%) is employed in other industries. Among men, the highest employment is in wholesale and retail trade (20.1%) and agriculture (24.5%), while for women, most (61.4%) are engaged in agriculture, followed by (20.3%) in community and social services.

Skilled workers in agriculture, forestry and fisheries make up the largest group (30.2%) of total employment in LFS 2024-25, followed by entry trades (17.7%), service and sales workers (16.7%), artisans and related professionals (13.2%), factory/machine operators and professional assemblers (8%). (4.1%), managers (2.2%) and office support workers (1.7%). Almost six in 10 female workers are engaged in agricultural activities (58.2%) and one in 10 women work as professionals (10.3%), while the proportion of men is higher than women in all other occupations.

A comparative analysis reveals that the share of skilled agricultural workers (33.2%, 30.2%) and managers (2.5%, 2.2%) decreased, while the share of all other occupations increased.

According to the AED 2024-25, of the 79.7 million employed labor force, 60.4 million (75.8%) are men. The main contributor to total employment is the informal (non-agricultural) sector, which accounts for (46.8%) of total employment.

The formal (non-agricultural) sector accounted for (18.1%) of total employment and agriculture accounted for (35.1%) of total employment. Men are mostly employed in the informal (non-agricultural) sector (54.2%) followed by the formal (non-agricultural) sector with (20.0%).

Women are almost twice as likely to be in the informal (non-agricultural) sector (23.6%) as compared to the formal (non-agricultural) sector (12.0%). The overall youth unemployment rate increased from (11.1%, 12.6%), men followed the same trend (10.0%, 12.3%), however the youth unemployment rate decreased from (14.4%, 13.3%) in the comparison periods.

At the provincial level, the unemployment rate has increased in all four provinces. The ratio of youth employment to the population has increased (38.9%, 39.7%), women follow the same trend (18.8%, 20.2%), but a decrease was observed among men (58.2%, 57.5%).

At the provincial level, youth employment per population has increased in three provinces (KP, Punjab and Balochistan) and decreased in Sindh. Youth labor force participation rate has increased nationally (43.8%, 45.4%) and provincially in KP (37.9%, 39.9%), Punjab (46.3%, 48.3%), Sindh (43.5%, 44.1%) and Balochistan (38.2%, 40.7%).