DHAKA, March 29, 2023 (BSS) - The total labour force in the country is 73.41 million of which 47.48 million are male while 25.93 million are female, according to the provisional report of the labour force survey 2022.

The provisional survey findings released today also showed that some 9.91 million labour force joined the labour market from 2016-17 to 2022, over the last five years.

The survey findings were unveiled today at a dissemination ceremony of Quarterly Labour Force Survey 2022 Bangladesh held at the auditorium of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) in the capital's Agargaon area.

Planning Minister MA Mannan spoke at the function as the chief guest while State Minister for Planning Dr Shamsul Alam, Statistics and Informatics Division Secretary Dr Shahnaz Arefin, Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment Md Ehsan-E-Elahi spoke on the occasion as special guests presided over by director general of the BBS Md Matiar Rahman.

Project director of the industry and labour wing of the BBS Aziza Rahman made a power-point presentation on the survey findings while director of the industry and labour wing of the BBS Kabir Uddin Ahmed gave the address of welcome.

Speaking on the occasion, Planning Minister MA Mannan said that the survey was conducted in line with the ILO standard.

Quoting survey findings during the COVID-19 pandemic, Mannan said that the number of unemployment and poverty rate had reduced in the capital.

Explaining the reasons behind this, he said that during that time the wheel of the economy was not hindered as no industry was shut down side by side the government helped the industries to stay alive with the prompt announcement of stimulus packages.

Due to various steps of the government, the growth of Bangladesh during that time was higher than India and China, Mannan added.

He also opined, had the contributions of the housewives were considered in the labour force, then there would have been a different reflection in the labour market and also in the economy.

State Minister for Planning Dr Shamsul Alam said that this survey was conducted in line with the ILO Standard to maintain its quality.

He said that during the pandemic, many people migrated from urban areas to rural areas and also were engaged in farming of fruits, flowers and chicken.

He said that there has been more diversification and intensification of agriculture over the years as the crop intensity has now increased to 2.14.

Terming this labour force survey as an important indicator for understanding the health of the economy, Dr Alam suggested for conducting this survey on quarterly basis.

He also said that the trend of self employment has increased in the country alongside the participation of females in the labour force.

Statistics and Informatics Division Secretary Dr Shahnaz Arefin said that this survey would also be conducted next year.

She said that this practice would be institutionalized so that such survey findings could be delivered before the nation quarterly.

Labour and Employment Secretary Md Ehsan-E-Elahi said that they would form a database of 3 lakh workers in this year.

He informed that they would come up with a big project to eliminate the child labour from the country after conducting a feasibility study.

Noting that there has been tremendous progress in labour rights in every sector, the Labour Secretary said that they would also form a committee for fixing the new minimum wage for the RMG workers.

Director General of BBS Md Matiar Rahman informed that quarterly GDP related Statistics would be published from the next year.

The provisional report of the labour force survey 2022 showed that out of the total population of 70.78 million engaged in labour, some 45.79 million are male while 24.99 million are female.

It said that over the last one decade, the number of workable people has increased while the number of womenfolk has increased in the labour force in this latest survey.

The survey said that the labour force includes people aged above 15. The total number of labour force is 46.9 million of which 12.09 million are male while 34.81 million are female.

Compared to the last labour force survey conducted in 2016-17, the number of people remaining outside of the labour force has increased by 1.4 million in this edition of the survey.

It said that out of the total number of 70.78 million in the labour force, some 32.2 million people are engaged in the agriculture sector, 12.05 million people in the industry sector while 26.65 million people in the services sector.

The labour force survey 2022 showed that the average rate of unemployment in the country is 3.6 percent of which the rate of male unemployment is 3.56 percent while the rate of female unemployment is 3.63 percent.

Compared with the previous labour force survey of 2016-17, the rate of unemployment in the country has been reduced to 3.6 percent from 4.2 percent.

The survey said the total number of unemployed people in the country is 2.63 million of which 1.69 million are male while 0.94 million are female.

It said that in the latest survey, the participation rate of female is 42.68 percent of which 50.89 percent in the rural areas while 22.59 percent in the urban areas. The participation rate of women in this survey has increased to 42.68 percent from the previous 36.3 percent.

In this survey, the total number of youths (aged 15-29) engaged in work totaled 26.82 million of which 13.51 million are male while 13.31 million are female.

While making the presentation, project director Aziza Rahman said that the indices of the labour market have witnessed significant changes over the last five years while the participation of youth folk alongside women has increased in the labour market.

She informed that the final report of the survey would be published very soon.