The number of unemployed individuals in Bangladesh increased by 1.7 lakh within a year, as fewer people engaged in work or participated in the labour force, unemployment is a serious concern, according to a survey by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), stated in a report.
Unemployment, which was relatively low at the start of 2024, has gradually rose over the year.
Employment has declined across all major sectors – agriculture, services, and industry – with a sharper increase in unemployment among men compared to women. These findings were part of the BBS labour force survey for the third quarter of 2024 (July-September).
By the end of September 2024, there were 26.6 lakh unemployed people in the country, up from 24.9 lakh during the same period in 2023. The number of unemployed individuals also rose by 20,000 in the last three months of the year.
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According to BBS data, unemployment among men increased significantly. At the end of September 2024, there were 17.9 lakh unemployed men and 8.7 lakh unemployed women, compared to 16.4 lakh men and 8.5 lakh women in 2023. This reflects an increase of 1.5 lakh unemployed men and 20,000 unemployed women over the year.
The overall labour force in Bangladesh, comprising both men and women, decreased from 6.11 crore in the third quarter of 2023 to 5.92 crore in the same period in 2024, a decline of 19.5 lakh. Of this labour force, 5.65 crore individuals were employed, while the remaining were unemployed.
The survey also highlighted a sizeable population outside the labour force, totaling 6.23 crore. This group includes students, elderly individuals, the sick, retirees, housewives, disabled persons, and others who are neither employed nor seeking work.
The youth labour force, representing individuals actively working or seeking work, also saw a significant drop. In the third quarter of 2023, it stood at 2.62 crore, which fell to 2.4 crore in the same period in 2024. This marks a decline of 21.7 lakh in the youth labour force. Of the current youth labour force, 1.17 crore are men, and 1.23 crore are women.
BBS calculated unemployment following International Labour Organisation (ILO) standards. Under these guidelines, unemployed individuals are defined as those who did not work for at least one hour for pay or profit in the last seven days and actively sought work in the past month.
The labour force survey for the third quarter of 2024 was published using two formats, based on the 13th and 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) guidelines. The estimates for employed individuals vary depending on the standards used.
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