Iran: 3.2m Unemployed in Fiscal 2018-19

EghtesadOnline: Iran’s unemployment rate, the proportion of jobless population of those above 10 years, stood at 12% in the last Iranian year (March 2018-19), indicating a 0.1% rise compared with the year before (March 2017-18).

News ID: ۷۴۷۰۶۱

15 April 2019

A total of 3,260,796 Iranians were unemployed last year, according to the Statistical Center of Iran's latest report.

The unemployment rate for men stood at 10.4% while women’s joblessness hovered around 18.9% during the period.

Over 2.25 million men and 1.01 million women of ages 10 and above were jobless last year, according to Financial Tribune.

The unemployment rate was 13.5% for urban areas (2.7 million people) and 7.9% for rural areas (553,883 people).

Labor Force Participation, Youth Unemployment

SCI has put last year’s labor force participation rate—the proportion of the population of those above 10 years that is economically active: either employed or looking for work—at 40.5% or 27.07 million people, registering a 0.4% rise year-on-year.

Men’s and women’s economic participation rates were 64.8% and 16.1% respectively last year.

According to SCI, 21.71 million men and 5.35 million women ages 10 and above were economically active last year—either employed or looking for job.

SCI provides two figures for the youth unemployment rate: the proportion of the population between the ages of 15 and 24 and those between the ages of 15 and 29.

The youth unemployment rate of those between 15 and 24 stood at 27.7% last year, posting a 0.5% decrease while the unemployment rate of those between 15 and 29 stood at 25.1%, posting no change compared with the previous year.

Underemployment, Graduate Unemployment

Underemployment, the condition in which people in a labor force are employed for less than 44 hours per week, stood at 10.8% and was higher among men compared to women and among those living in rural areas.

The underemployment rate of men and women stood at 12% and 5.8%, respectively, while the underemployment rate was 9.4% in urban areas and 14.6% in rural areas last year.

Some 38.3% of job holders worked 49 hours or more per week, registering a decline of 0.7% YOY.

The share of higher education from the total rate of unemployment was 38.5% last year, which indicates an increase of 1.4% YOY.

The unemployment rates of male and female graduates stood at 26.1% and 65.9% respectively while higher education unemployment rates were 41.4% in urban areas and 23.9% in rural areas during the period under review.

Employment is defined as persons of working age engaged in any activity to produce goods or provide services for pay or profit, whether at work during the reference period or not at work due to a temporary absence from a job, or to working-time arrangement.

The total employment rate of last year was 35.6% (23.81 million). In the last fiscal year, men and women employment rates were 58.1% and 13% respectively, of whom 19.46 million were men and 4.34 million were women. The employment rate was 34.4% or 17.38 million in urban areas and 39.2% or 6.43 million in rural areas.

The employment rate of university graduates stood at 23.9% of the total employed population, male and female graduate employment was 20.4% and 39.2%, respectively. Graduate employment rates in urban and rural areas stood at 30% and 7.2% of the total population of job-holders.

Sectoral Review

The services sector employed 50.3% of the Iranian employed population (11.96 million), 0.1% more than the year before, whereas industrial and agricultural sectors provided 32% and 17.7% of the employed population with jobs respectively.

Over 7.62 million were employed in the industrial sector, indicating a decrease of 0.3% compared with the year before and 4.21 million worked in the agricultural sector, posting a 0.2% growth YOY.

The services sector employed 9.64 million men and 2.31 million women last year, such that over 6.45 million men and 1.16 million women were working in the industrial sector and 3.35 million of men and 856,102 women worked in the agricultural sector last year.

Services sector accounted for 59.9% or 10.4 million of all jobs in urban areas and 24.3% or 1.56 million of the jobs in rural areas. The industrial sector made up 34% or 5.9 million of those employed in urban areas and 26.6% or 1.71 million of those employed in rural areas, whereas 6.1% or 1.05 million of the total jobs in urban areas and 49.1% or 3.15 million of the jobs in rural areas were in the agricultural sector.

Provincial Review

Semnan Province registered the lowest unemployment rate of 7.2% among all Iranian provinces last year while Kermanshah Province had the highest unemployment rate of 18.7%. Tehran Province, wherein lies the capital city, registered a 12.2% unemployment rate.

Nine provinces, namely Semnan (7.2%), Hamedan (8.3%), Markazi (8.4%), Zanjan (8.5%), South Khorasan (8.5%), Mazandaran (8.5%), Fars (8.9%), Ardabil (9.3%) and Golestan (9.8%), registered single-digit unemployment rates last year.

Khorasan Razavi had the highest labor force participation rate (44.9%) and Sistan-Baluchestan had the lowest labor force participation rate (33.9%), whereas Tehran registered a 39.8% participation rate last year.

North Khorasan and Ardabil registered the highest employment rate of 40.2% while Sistan-Baluchestan filed the lowest employment rate of 28.5% among all Iranian provinces.

Q4 Perspective

The unemployment rate in the fourth quarter of the last Iranian year (Dec. 22, 2018-March 20) stood at 12.1%, indicating no change compared with the same period of the previous year.

A total of 3,220,810 Iranians were unemployed in winter.

Men’s unemployment rate stood at 10.7% while that of women hovered around 18.4%, such that 2.3 million men and 915,812 million women of ages 10 and above were jobless in the fourth quarter.

The unemployment rate was 13.3% for urban areas (2.63 million people) and 8.7% for rural areas (582,198 people).

SCI has put the Q4 labor force participation rate at 39.5% or 26.53 million people, registering a 0.1% rise year-on-year.

Men’s and women’s economic participation rates were 64% and 14.9% respectively in Q4.

About 21.55 million of men and 4.97 million of women ages 10 and above were economically active in the fourth quarter of the last year: either employed or looking for job.

The youth unemployment rate of those between 15 and 24 years stood at 28.1% in Q4, posting a 1.2% decrease while the unemployment rate of those between 15 and 29 years stood at 25.5%, posting a 0.2% increase year-on-year.

Underemployment stood at 11.5% in Q4 while the related rate for men and women stood at 12.6% and 6% respectively. The underemployment rate of urban areas was 9.7% and 16.6% in rural areas in Q4.

Meanwhile, 35.5% of the country’s job holders worked 49 hours or more per week, registering a decline of 1.2% YOY.

The share of higher education unemployment from the total unemployment rate was 37.5% in Q4, which indicates an increase of 2.2% compared with the same quarter of last year.

The unemployment rates of male and female graduates stood at 25% and 68.9% respectively while higher education unemployment rates were 40.9% in urban areas and 21.8% in rural areas during the period.

The total employment rate was 34.7% (23.31 million) in Q4, which was 57.2% and 12.1% for men and women respectively, such that 19.24 million men and 4.06 million women were employed. The employment rate was 33.9% or 17.24 million in urban areas and 37.1% or 6.07 million in rural areas.

The employment rate of university graduates stood at 24.5% of the total employed population, with employed male and female graduates constituting 20.9% and 41.8%, respectively. Graduate employment rates in urban and rural areas stood at 30.5% and 7.7% of the total population of job-holders.

The services sector employed 51.6% of the employed population (12.03 million), 0.3% less than in the same quarter of last year, whereas industrial and agricultural sectors constituted 32.4% and 16% of the jobs respectively. Over 7.55 million were employed in the industrial sector, indicating a 0.5% decrease YOY and 3.72 million worked in the agricultural sector, posting a 0.8% growth YOY.

The services sector employed 9.7 million men and 2.32 million women in Q4, over 6.47 million men and 1.07 million women were working in the industrial sector and 3.06 million of men and 657,079 women worked in the agricultural sector in Q4.

Services sector accounted for 60.6% or 10.45 million of all jobs in urban areas and 26% or 1.58 million of the jobs in rural areas. The industrial sector made up 34% or 5.86 million jobs in urban areas and 27.7% or 1.68 million of jobs in rural areas whereas 5.3% or 913,715 million of the total jobs in urban areas and 46.2% or 2.8 million of the jobs in rural areas were in the agricultural sector.