Ayesha Saba

Pakistan’s employed population has increased to 79.7 million in 2024-25, reflecting major shifts in the country’s labour market structure, employment composition, and sectoral engagement. The Labour Force Survey 2024-25, conducted by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics as the 37th round of the national labour market survey, documents detailed trends in employment levels, industry-wise distribution, occupational categories, hours worked, employment status and demographic patterns.

According to the Labour Force Survey 2024-25 document available with Wealth Pakistan, the rise in employment corresponds with the expansion of the overall labour force and provides updated insights into the nature of work across rural and urban areas. The survey reports that the number of employed persons aged ten years and above rose from 67.3 million in 2020-21 to 79.7 million in 2024-25 under the 13th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) definition, which includes 2.48 million own-use producers for the purpose of comparability.

This increase represents an annual net addition of around 3.1 million employed persons. Under the 19th ICLS framework, which excludes own-use subsistence agricultural workers, total employment stands at 77.2 million, comprising 59.4 million males and 17.8 million females. Gender-wise distribution shows that male employment increased from 51.9 million in 2020-21 to 60.4 million in 2024-25. Female employment rose from 15.4 million to 19.3 million under the 13th ICLS definition. Under the 19th definition, male employment totals 59.4 million compared with 17.8 million female workers.

The employment-to-population ratio also increased during the period. For individuals aged ten years and above, the ratio increased from 42.1 percent to 44.4 percent. Among males, the ratio rose from 64.1 percent to 65.6 percent, while for females it increased from 19.4 percent to 22.1 percent. The survey provides a detailed sectoral distribution of employment. Under the 13th ICLS standard, agriculture, forestry and fishing account for 35.1 percent of total employment, down from 37.4 percent in 2020-21. Industry accounts for 24.9 percent, while services make up 39.9 percent.

Under the 19th ICLS definition, which reclassifies own-use producers, agriculture’s share is 33.1 percent, followed by wholesale and retail trade at 16.0 percent, manufacturing at 14.8 percent, construction at 9.9 percent, transport storage and communication at 6.6 percent, and community and personal services at 17.9 percent. Women remain heavily concentrated in agriculture, where 61.4 percent of female employment is recorded under the 19th ICLS methodology, compared to 24.5 percent for males.

Employment status findings show that employees constitute 43.5 percent of the workforce, own-account workers 36.1 percent, contributing family workers 19.1 percent, and employers 1.3 percent. The share of employees increased from 42.0 percent in 2020-21, while contributing family workers declined from 21.1 percent. The survey also highlights that almost half of female workers are contributing family workers, while nearly half of male workers are employees.

The survey further documents employment patterns by occupation and education. Occupational categories reflect distribution across managerial, professional, technical, clerical, service, agricultural, craft-related, machine operation and elemental work groups. Education-wise, employment is spread across illiterate, primary, middle, matric, intermediate, degree-level and above qualifications. The data highlight that a significant proportion of employed persons work more than the average mean hours per week, which vary across provinces, gender groups, occupational divisions and major industries.

The Labour Force Survey also records the distribution of employment across formal and informal sectors. In the non-agriculture sector, 72.1 percent of workers are employed informally, with higher informal employment in rural areas compared to urban regions. Under the 19th ICLS definition, informal employment accounts for 80.8 percent of total employment, while the formal sector accounts for 19.2 percent. The report also documents home-based workers, workplace types, travel time to work, and freedom of association indicators.

Credit: INP-WealthPk