The Statistical Center of Iran provides two figures for the youth unemployment rate: the proportion of the population between 15 and 24 years and those between 18 and 35 years.
The youth unemployment rate of those between 15 and 24 years stood at 23.1% in the fourth quarter of last Iranian year (Dec. 22, 2021-March 20), registering a 0.5% year-on-year decrease.
The unemployment rate of those between 18 and 35 years stood at 16.6%, posting a decline of 0.2% YOY.
Iran’s overall unemployment rate, the proportion of the jobless population of ages 15 and above, stood at 9.4% in the fourth quarter, indicating a 0.3% year-on-year decline.
According to SCI, a total of 2.4 million Iranians were unemployed in Q4. Men’s unemployment stood at 8.4% while the rate for women hovered around 14.9%.
Over 1.81 million men and 653,609 women of ages 15 and above were jobless in Q4.
The unemployment rate was 9.9% for urban areas (1.92 million people) and 8% for rural areas (487,103 people).
SCI put Q4 labor force participation rate — the proportion of the population of ages 15 and above that is economically active either employed or looking for a job — at 40.4% or 2.56 million people, registering a 0.5% decrease year-on-year.
Men’s and women’s economic participation rates were 68% and 12.8% respectively in the same period.
A total of 21.52 million men and 4.06 million women of ages 15 and above were economically active in Q4, i.e., they were either employed or looking for a job.
The share of higher education unemployment from the total unemployed population was 38.1% in Q4, which indicates a decrease of 0.7% year-on-year.
The unemployment shares of male and female graduates from the total unemployed population stood at 26.8% and 71.8%, respectively, while the share of higher education unemployment from the total unemployed population was 41.9% in urban areas and 23% in rural areas during the period.
Q4 statistics show that 36.7% of the country’s labor force worked more than 49 hours per week, indicating a 1% increase over the same period of last year.
