ISLAMABAD, Nov 26, 2025: Pakistan’s Labour Force Survey 2024–25 released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics has stated that unemployment in the country had risen to eight million people, pushing the national unemployment rate to 7.1 percent.
This marks a rise from the 6.3 percent recorded in 2020–21 and reflects the growing pressures on the labour market.
The survey confirms that Pakistan’s population, as measured in the 2023 census, now stands at 241.49 million with 3.3 percent of citizens currently unemployed.
The report notes that unemployment has increased by 0.8 percent over the past five years, indicating that job creation has not kept pace with population growth or shifting economic conditions.
This trend highlights a persistent imbalance between the size of the labour force and the number of available jobs, pointing to deeper structural challenges within the economy.
The survey also outlines how employment is spread across major sectors. The services sector remains the country’s largest employer with 31.83 million workers, accounting for 41.7 percent of all employed individuals.
Agriculture follows as the second-largest sector with 25.53 million workers, representing 33.1 percent, while the industrial sector employs 19.86 million people, or 25.7 percent of the national workforce.
In addition, the survey reports that Pakistan’s average monthly per-capita wage has increased to Rs 39,042, showing a rise of Rs 15,014 over five years compared to the 2020–21 average of Rs 24,028.
A gender wage gap persists, with men earning an average of Rs 39,302 per month and women earning Rs 37,347, underscoring both improvements in income levels and the ongoing need to address inequality in the labour market.