The economically active population in Sri Lanka was around 8.4 million in 2018, while about 5.5 million or 65.1% of the economically active population were males. And economically inactive population accounts to about 7.8 million or 74.1%, while the majority of them were females.
The unemployed population reported in 2018 was 372,593, while the overall unemployment of males and females are 3.0 percent and 7.1 percent respectively. Among all age groups, unemployment rates of females are higher than those of males. Youth unemployment between the 15 - 24 age groups rates are the highest for both males and females, compared to other age groups, according to Sri Lanka’s Labour Force Survey Annual Bulletin - 2018 published by the Department of Census and Statistics stated.
When the level of education is considered, the highest unemployment rate (9.1%) is reported from the G.C.E. (A/L) and above group.
It is 5.1 percent and 13.2 percent for males and females respectively.
When the provincial distribution considered the highest unemployment rate is reported from the Eastern Province (6.0%). Female unemployment rates are higher compared to that of males in all provinces. In the Northern and Eastern Provinces comparatively very high female unemployment rates are observed. When the district level distribution is considered, the highest unemployment is reported from the Mannar District (7.1%), while the lowest rate is reported from Mullaitivu.
It is also observed that the working age household population (age 15 and above), has increased to about 0.35 million from 2017 to 2018. Also, the labour force survey reported that the labour force participation rate has declined by 2.3% from 2017 to 2018 and the employed population has declined about 0.2 million. The employment decline is significant among females, compared to male.
The estimated unemployment rate is 4.4% and it is a 0.2 percentage point increase, compared to 4.2% in 2017. There is a significant increase in inactive population, increase is about 0.53 million. The increase is mainly reported from female, youth (15-24) and elderly (age 60 and above).
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