Bangladesh’s labour force reached around 7.17 crore in 2024, with 26.2 lakh people unemployed and the unemployment rate at 3.66%, Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury told parliament on Thursday.

Around 6.91 crore people were employed during the year, the minister said, citing the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics’ Labour Force Survey 2024.

He disclosed the figures in response to a written question from Kishoreganj-2 lawmaker Advocate Md Jalal Uddin.

Agriculture remained the country’s largest source of employment, accounting for 44.67% of all jobs. Around 3.087 crore people were employed in the sector.

The services sector employed around 2.622 crore people, or 37.96% of the employed population, while industry accounted for 1.20 crore jobs, or 17.37%.

The figures also showed a large rural concentration in Bangladesh’s labour market.

Around 5.117 crore people were in the rural labour force in 2024. Urban areas accounted for 1.874 crore people, including 1.792 crore who were employed.

The minister said another 5.04 crore people were outside the labour force altogether.

Women accounted for the overwhelming majority of this group. Around 3.801 crore women were outside the labour force, compared with 1.203 crore men.

The figures mean women represented roughly three-quarters of Bangladeshis who were neither employed nor counted as unemployed in 2024.

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