Rwanda's Unemployment Rate Falls To 12.4 Pct In 2025

Kigali: Rwanda's unemployment rate declined to 12.4 percent in 2025 from 14.9 percent in 2024, according to the latest Labor Force Survey released on Thursday by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda.

The report showed that the unemployment rate stood at 12.4 percent in 2025, marking a decrease of 2.5 percentage points compared to 2024.

In 2025, the unemployment rate was higher among females at 14.2 percent compared to males at 10.8 percent. It was also more prevalent among youth, recorded at 14.7 percent, than among adults, at 10.8 percent.

Geographically, the unemployment rate was similar in both rural and urban areas, at about 12 percent.

However, the report noted that unemployment is not the only component of unmet employment needs. Other components include time-related underemployment and the potential labour force.

In 2025, the working-age population was about 8.5 million. Of these, around 4.8 million were employed, 676,000 were unemployed, and 3.1 million were out of the labor force.

Sectoral distribution data shows that the services sector employed the majority of the population in 2025. Employment levels in the agricultural and industry sectors remained almost stable, while the share of employment in the services sector increased to 44.4 percent in 2025, from 42.9 percent in 2024.

The report also noted the labor underutilization rate stood at 56 percent in 2025, up 1.8 percentage points from 2024.

This rate was higher among females at 63.1 percent compared to males at 48.5 percent, and higher among youth at 56.7 percent than adults at 55.5 percent, it added.

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