Iran’s unemployment rate, the proportion of the jobless population of ages 15 and above, stood at 8.9% in the second quarter of the current Iranian year (June 22-Sept. 22), indicating a 0.7% year-on-year decrease, according to a new report by the Statistical Center of Iran.
A total of 2.33 million Iranians were unemployed in Q2.
Men’s unemployment stood at 7.3% while the rate for women hovered around 17.2%.
Over 1.58 million men and 748,336 women of ages 15 and above were jobless in Q2.
The unemployment rate was 9.6% for urban areas (1.91 million people) and 6.8% for rural areas (422,734 people).
Labor Force Participation, Youth Unemployment
SCI put the Q2 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 41% or 2.61 million people, registering a 0.1% decrease year-on-year.
Men’s and women’s economic participation rates were 68.4% and 13.7% respectively in the same period.
A total of 21.75 million men and 4.35 million women of ages 15 and above were economically active in Q2, 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 23% in Q2, posting a 2.7% decrease while the unemployment rate of those between 18 and 35 years stood at 16.2%, posting a decrease of 1.4% 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 9.2%, down 0.3% year-on-year and was higher for men and those living in rural areas.
The Q2 underemployment rate for men and women stood at 10% and 4.6%, respectively, while it was 8% for urban areas and 12.8% for rural areas.
The unemployment rate for university graduates stood at 13.2% in Q2, posting a 1.2% decrease YOY. Higher education unemployment rate for men stood at 8.8% and that of women stuck around 23.2%.
The share of higher education unemployment from the total unemployed population was 40.9% in Q2, which indicates an increase of 0.3% year-on-year.
The unemployment shares of male and female graduates from the total unemployed population stood at 27.9% and 68.7%, respectively, while the share of higher education unemployment from the total unemployed population was 43.7% in urban areas and 28.4% 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 Q2 employment rate was 37.3% (23.77 million), up 0.1% compared with the same quarter of the last Iranian year. Employment rates for men and women were 63.4% and 11.3%, respectively, which constituted 20.17 million men and 36.06 million women in Q2.
Employment rate was 36.5% (17.96 million people) in urban areas and 40.1% (5.81 million) in rural areas.
The share of employment of university graduates stood at 26.5% of the total employed population, wherein male and female graduate employment rates were 22.8% and 47.1%, respectively. In urban and rural areas, graduate employment rates stood at 32.2% and 8.8% of the total number of job-holders, respectively.
Q2 statistics show that 39.6% of the country’s labor force worked more than 49 hours per week, indicating a 1% increase over the same period of last year.
Sectoral Review
The services sector employed 50.4% of the Iranian employed population (11.97 million), 1.6% higher than the corresponding period of last year, whereas industrial and agricultural sectors provided 33.8% and 15.8% of jobs respectively.
Over 8.02 million were employed in the industrial sector, unchanged year-on-year and 3.76 million worked in agriculture, posting a 1.6% 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 9.88 million men and 2.09 million women in the three-month period, such that 7.09 million men and 932,798 women were working in the industrial sector and 3.18 million men and 576,881 women worked in the agriculture sector.
Services accounted for 58.3% or 10.46 million of all jobs in urban areas and 25.9% or 1.5 million of jobs in rural areas. The industrial sector made up 35.4% or 6.32 million of the jobs in urban areas and comprised 29.3% or 1.7 million of employment in rural areas.
This is while 6.4% or 1.15 million of the total jobs in urban areas and 44.8% or 2.6 million of the jobs in rural areas were in the agriculture sector.
Provincial Review
Khuzestan Province saw the lowest unemployment rate of 5.5% among all Iranian provinces in Q2 while Hormozagan registered the highest unemployment rate of 22.6%.
Eight provinces, namely Kurdestan (10.2%), Isfahan (10.6%), Sistan-Baluchestan (11.4%), Ardabil and Lorestan (each 11.7%), Kermanshah (13.6%), Khuzestan (15.6%) and Hormozgan (22.6%) registered double-digit unemployment rates for people of ages 15 and above in Q2.
Zanjan had the highest labor force participation rate (49.4%) and Ilam had the lowest labor force participation rate (32.5%), whereas Tehran registered a 40.3% participation rate in Q2.
Zanjan registered the highest employment rate of 46.6% while Sistan-Baluchestan filed the lowest employment rate of 29.6% among all Iranian provinces. Tehran’s employment rate stood at 34.7%.
Fiscal 2020-21 in Review
Iran’s unemployment rate, the proportion of the jobless population of ages 15 and above, stood at 9.2% in the fiscal 2021-22 (ended March 20), indicating a 0.4% year-on-year decline, according to the Statistical Center of Iran.
According to a new report released by the center, a total of 2.4 million Iranians were unemployed in the fiscal 2021-22.
Men’s unemployment stood at 7.9% while the rate for women hovered around 16%.
Over 1.7 million men and 669,341 women of ages 15 and above were jobless during the year under review.
The unemployment rate was 9.9% for urban areas (1.94 million people) and 6.9% for rural areas (435,094 people).
SCI put the fiscal 2021-22 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 2.58 million people, registering a 0.4% decrease year-on-year.
Men’s and women’s economic participation rates were 68.7% and 13.3% respectively in the same period.
A total of 21.64 million men and 4.18 million women of ages 15 and above were economically active in the fiscal 2021-22.
