The number of unemployed individuals in Bangladesh has seen a slight 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, published on Sunday.
The new unemployment figures have been prepared following the 19th ICLS (International Conference of Labour Statisticians) methodology.
Under this system, individuals engaged in productive activities but not involved in selling goods or services in the market are not considered employed.
Instead, they are categorized as unemployed.
A BBS official told the media that the 19th ICLS-based survey has been conducted for the first time, leading to some discrepancies in the statistics.
According to the previous 13th ICLS-based survey, at the end of September, the labor force in Bangladesh consisted of 70.6 million people—47.49 million men and 22.57 million women.
Among them, 67.51 million individuals worked at least one hour for wages in the seven days prior to the survey, qualifying as employed.
This group included 45.77 million men and 21.74 million women.
Those who are neither employed nor classified as unemployed are considered outside the labor force.
This group includes students, the elderly, the ill, retired individuals, those unable to work, and homemakers unwilling or unable to join the workforce.
At the end of September, this population was estimated at 51.44 million.
Every year, at least 2 million individuals enter the job market in Bangladesh.
Of these, around 1.3-1.4 million find employment domestically, while the rest seek jobs abroad.
As a result, the number of unemployed individuals has remained relatively stable at 2.4-2.8 million over the past two decades.