Bangladesh youth unemployment rate to stay high

Youth unemployment in Bangladesh will continue to be high -- more than double the national unemployment rate -- with university graduates being the hardest hit, according to the World Employment and Social Outlook (WESO) report released yesterday by the International Labour Organization (ILO).

"The global contraction of jobs is of grave concern, especially for Bangladesh, which is undergoing political, economic, social, and climatic transitions and sends over a million workers abroad," said Tuomo Poutiainen, the outgoing country director for the ILO in Bangladesh.

"The WESO report underscores the need for Bangladesh not to lose sight of the urgency of creating decent work opportunities, particularly for women and youth."

"As more jobs are anticipated in high-skilled occupations, such as digital roles, it is critical for Bangladesh to move forward with its skills development reforms to adequately equip its labour force for more specialised, better-paying jobs both at home and abroad," Poutiainen said in a statement.

The ILO identified geopolitical tensions and trade disruptions as key factors weakening the economic outlook, leading to slower job growth.

Bangladesh's unemployment rate rose to 4.63 percent in the second quarter of fiscal year 2024–25, as a growing number of job seekers failed to secure employment, according to the latest Quarterly Labour Force Survey data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), published recently.

The jobless rate stood at 3.95 percent in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the BBS.

In the WESO report, the ILO revised its global employment forecast for 2025, projecting the creation of 53 million jobs instead of the previously estimated 60 million.

This translates into a reduction in global employment growth from 1.7 percent to 1.5 percent this year, the report said.

The drop—equivalent to around seven million fewer additional jobs—reflects a downgraded global economic outlook, with GDP growth expected at 2.8 percent, down from a previous projection of 3.2 percent.

The ILO's latest employment estimates are based on economic growth projections from the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) April 2025 World Economic Outlook.