Islamabad: Pakistan’s unemployment rate climbed to 7.1% in fiscal year 2024-25, the highest since 2003-04, according to the long-delayed Labour Force Survey released Tuesday by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. The figure marks a sharp rise from 6.3% in 2020-21 and surpasses the previous peak of 6.9% recorded in 2018-19.
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal blamed the surge on the IMF’s stringent $7 billion stabilisation programme, climate-induced disasters, and global price shocks that curbed economic growth to under 3% annually. “These factors severely constrained job creation,” he said, noting that 3.5 million new workers enter the market yearly.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded the highest rate at 9.6%, followed by Punjab (7.3%). Sindh had the lowest at 5.3%. Of nearly 180 million working-age Pakistanis, a staggering 118 million—two-thirds—are unpaid, largely performing household chores, childcare, livestock rearing, or fetching water.
The survey also revealed agriculture’s employment share dropped over 4% to 33.1%, while manufacturing fell marginally to 14.4%, hit by high interest rates and energy costs. Over 72% of non-agricultural jobs remain informal.
Released under IMF conditions, the report underscores Pakistan’s struggle to absorb its growing labour force amid structural challenges and external pressures.