By the third quarter of 2018, the estimated economically active population in Sri Lanka was about 8.4 million in the third quarter 2018 of which 64.7 percent were males and 35.3 percent were females.
The economically inactive population was about 7.8 million. Out of the economically inactive population 26.1 percent were males and 73.9 percent were females, the quarterly report of Sri Lanka Labour Force Survey published by the Department of Census and Statistics stated.
According to the survey, male participation to the labour force was always higher than that of female. The highest participation rate for male was reported from the age group 30-34 years (97.0%), while that for female was reported from the 45-49 age groups (48.3%).
During third quarter of 2018, the total number of employed persons in Sri Lanka was estimated at about 8 million. Of which, about 46 percent engaged in service sector, 28.7 percent in industries sector and 25.3 percent in Agriculture sector. Compared to third quarter 2017, in third quarter 2018, a slight increase in Agriculture employment can be observed. “In addition, the highest employment share was in service sector and this is true for both male and female, while the lowest shares were for agriculture sector. Among employed females 28 percent is in agriculture sector while this share was 23.9 percent for males.”
The number of unemployed persons is estimated as 346,998 during the third quarter 2018. The unemployment rate for the third quarter 2018 is 4.1 percent.
Overall unemployment rate reported for female is 6.6 percent and it is 2.8 percent for male. Youth unemployment rate (age 15 – 24 years) corresponding to the third quarter 2018 is 19.6 percent and that is the highest reported unemployment rate among all age groups. Further the unemployment rates for males and females are 16.0 and 26.1 percent respectively for age group 15-24.
The survey results further reveals that the unemployment among females is higher than that of males, in all age groups. Youth and female unemployment contribute more to the overall unemployment of the country.
The highest unemployment rate is reported from the G.C.E (A/L) and above group which is about 9.5 percent. Corresponding percentages are 4.8 percent and 14.2 percent for males and females respectively. Female unemployment rates are higher than those of males in all levels of education.
Survey results further show that the problem of unemployment is more acute in the case of educated females than educated males, which was observed consistently over the results of previous survey rounds as well.
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