Unemployment in Bangladesh increases to 2.66 million
Individuals who are involved in productive activities but do not participate in selling goods or services in the market are classified as unemployed.
The number of unemployed individuals in Bangladesh has experienced a modest increase.
In the July-September quarter of this year, 2.66 million people in the labor force were unemployed, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) quarterly Labor Force Survey for 2024, released on Sunday. These updated unemployment figures are based on the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) methodology.
Under this approach, individuals involved in productive activities but not engaged in selling goods or services in the market are not considered employed. Instead, they are classified as unemployed.
A BBS official mentioned that this is the first time the 19th ICLS-based survey has been conducted, which has resulted in some discrepancies in the statistics.
According to the previous 13th ICLS-based survey, the labor force in Bangladesh stood at 70.6 million by the end of September—47.49 million men and 22.57 million women.
Of these, 67.51 million individuals worked for at least one hour for wages in the seven days before the survey, qualifying as employed. This group included 45.77 million men and 21.74 million women.
Those neither employed nor considered unemployed are categorized as outside the labor force. This group includes students, the elderly, the ill, retirees, those unable to work, and homemakers who are unwilling or unable to join the workforce.
By the end of September, this population was estimated at 51.44 million.
Every year, approximately 2 million individuals enter Bangladesh's job market.
Of these, around 1.3-1.4 million find employment within the country, while the remainder seeks work abroad.
As a result, the number of unemployed individuals has remained relatively stable at 2.4 to 2.8 million over the past two decades.
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