Iran’s unemployment rate, the proportion of the jobless population of ages 15 and above, stood at 9.2% in the first quarter of the current Iranian year (March 21-June 21), indicating a 0.4% year-on-year increase.
According to a new report by the Statistical Center of Iran, a total of 2.4 million Iranians were unemployed in Q1. Men’s unemployment stood at 7.8% while the rate for women hovered around 16.1%.
Over 1.69 million men and 708,085 women of ages 15 and above were jobless in Q1.
The unemployment rate was 10.1% for urban areas (1.99 million people) and 6.4% for rural areas (405,180 people).
Labor Force Participation, Youth Unemployment
SCI put the Q1 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 40.9% or 2.6 million people, registering a 0.5% decrease year-on-year.
Men’s and women’s economic participation rates were 68% and 13.8% respectively in the same period.
A total of 21.59 million men and 4.39 million women of ages 15 and above were economically active in Q1, i.e., they were either employed or looking for a job.
The center 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 24% in Q1, posting a 1.9% increase while the unemployment rate of those between 18 and 35 years stood at 16.6%, posting a growth of 1% YOY.
Underemployment, Graduate Unemployment, Employment
Underemployment, the condition in which people in a labor force are employed for less than 44 hours of service per week, stood at 9.7%, down 0.1% year-on-year and was higher for men and those living in rural areas.
The Q1 underemployment rate for men and women stood at 10.5% and 5%, respectively, while it was 8.6% for urban areas and 12.8% for rural areas.
The unemployment rate for university graduates stood at 13.2% in Q1, posting a 0.2% decrease YOY. Higher education unemployment rate for men stood at 9.1% and that of women stuck around 22.3%.
The share of higher education unemployment from the total unemployed population was 39.7% in Q1, which indicates a decrease of 0.6% year-on-year.
The unemployment shares of male and female graduates from the total unemployed population stood at 27.1% and 69.8%, respectively, while the share of higher education unemployment from the total unemployed population was 43.2% in urban areas and 25.7% in rural areas during the period.
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 Q1 employment rate was 37.7% (23.58 million), down 0.6% compared with the same quarter of the last Iranian year. Employment rates for men and women were 63.9% and 11.6%, respectively, which constituted 19.9 million men and 36.81 million women in Q1.
Employment rate was 36.1% (17.68 million people) in urban areas and 40.7% (5.9 million) in rural areas.
The share of employment of university graduates stood at 26.6% of the total employed population, wherein male and female graduate employment rates were 22.9% and 46.8%, respectively. In urban and rural areas, graduate employment rates stood at 32.5% and 8.9% of the total number of job-holders, respectively.
Q1 statistics show that 40.3% of the country’s labor force worked more than 49 hours per week, indicating a 1.9% increase over the same period of last year.
Sectoral Review
The services sector employed 51.2% of the Iranian employed population (12.08 million), 2.4% higher than the corresponding period of last year, whereas industrial and agricultural sectors provided 32.7% and 16% of jobs respectively.
Over 7.71 million were employed in the industrial sector, indicating an increase of 0.5% year-on-year and 3.78 million worked in agriculture, posting a 1.9% decrease YOY.
The services sector consists of wholesale and retail trade; restaurants and hotels; transport, storage and communications; financing, insurance, real-estate and business services; as well as community, social, education, health and personal services.
The sector employed 9.86 million men and 2.21 million women in the three-month period, such that 6.85 million men and 857,655 women were working in the industrial sector and 3.18 million men and 606,817 women worked in the agriculture sector.
Services accounted for 59.6% or 10.55 million of all jobs in urban areas and 26% or 1.53 million of jobs in rural areas. The industrial sector made up 34.2% or 6.05 million of the jobs in urban areas and comprised 28.2% or 1.66 million of employment in rural areas.
This is while 6.1% or 1.08 of the total jobs in urban areas and 45.8% or 2.7 million of the jobs in rural areas were in the agriculture sector.
Provincial Review
Hamedan Province saw the lowest unemployment rate of 6.5% among all Iranian provinces in Q1 while Kermanshah registered the highest unemployment rate of 15.4%.
Nine provinces, namely Kurdestan (10.2%), Yazd and Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari (each 10.6%), Isfahan (12.3%), Sistan-Baluchestan and Lorestan (each 12.8%), Khuzestan (14.1%), Hormozgan (15.3%) and Kermanshah (15.4) registered double-digit unemployment rates for people of ages 15 and above in Q1.
Zanjan had the highest labor force participation rate (47.8%) and Kohgilouyeh-Boyerahmad had the lowest labor force participation rate (35.7%), whereas Tehran registered a 40.9% participation rate in Q1.
Zanjan registered the highest employment rate of 45.2% while Ilam filed the lowest employment rate of 30.6% among all Iranian provinces. Tehran’s employment rate stood at 37.7%.
