The estimated economically active population in Sri Lanka is about 8.4 million in the fourth quarter 2016, of which 64.3 percent are males and 35.7 percent are females. Out of the economically inactive population 25.3 percent are males and 74.7 percent are females, according to the Census and Statistics Department’s latest report.
The highest unemployment rate is reported from the G.C.E (A/L) and above group which is about 7.6 percent. Corresponding percentages are 3.7 percent and 11.6 percent for male and female respectively. Female unemployment rates are higher than those of males in all levels of education.
This further shows 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.
The report reveals that male participation to the labour force is always higher than that of females.
The distribution of Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR )by age group and by gender depicts high male participation compared to female in all age groups. The highest participation rate was reported from age group 40-44 years (74.0%), and this is true for both male (97.1%) and female (53.1%).
During fourth quarter of 2016, the total number of employed persons in Sri Lanka is estimated at about 8.0 million. Of which, about 46.7 percent engaged in Service sector, 27.6 percent in Agriculture sector and 25.7 percent in Industries sector.
The highest employment share is in service sector and this is true for both male and female, while the lowest shares are for industry sector. Among employed females 31.7 percent is in agriculture sector while this share is 25.4 percent for males.
The number of unemployed persons is estimated as 348,141 during the fourth quarter 2016. The unemployment rate for the fourth quarter 2016 is 4.2 percent.
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