Labour market overview, situation as of 28 February 2025

As of 28 February 2025, 324 314 people were registered as unemployed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  Compared to a month earlier, the number of the unemployed increased by 686 or 0.21%.  Of the total number of job seekers, 191 901 or 59.17% were women.  Compared to the same period a year earlier, the unemployment level in BiH decreased by 14 214 or 4.2%. 

Unemployment level decreased by 207 persons (0.38%) in RS and by 24 persons (0.21%) in the BD BiH, while it increased by 917 persons (0.35%) in the FBiH.  

The structure of job seekers as of 28 February 2025 is as follows:

Unskilled workers: 94 734 or 29.21%, comprising 37 953 (28.66%) men and 56 781 (29.59%) women

Semi-skilled workers/low educational background: 4 445 or 1.37%, comprising 2 083 (1.57%) men and 2 362 (1.23%) women

Skilled workers: 101 800 or 31.39%, comprising 51 751 (39.08%) men and 50 049 (25.95%) women

Highly skilled workers: 682 or 0.21%, comprising 512 (0.39%) men and 170 (0.09%) women

Secondary school qualifications: 92 123 or 28.41%, comprising 31 164 (23.54%) men and 60 959 (31.77%) women

Two-year post-secondary education: 5 046 or 1.56%, comprising 1 692 (1.28%) men and 3 354 (1.75%) women

University degree: 25 484 or 7.86%, comprising 7 258 (5.48%) men and 18 226 (9.50%) women

Within the total number of registered unemployed people, 11 660 were newly added to the register in February 2025, of whom 6 003 were women.  The total number of people who were deregistered amounted to 11 055, of whom 5 523 were women.  Of the total number of people who were deregistered, 6 625 or 59.93% were placed in jobs, of whom 3 421 or 51.64% were women.  

In February 2025, employers reported 2 394 new vacancies to public employment services in BiH, of which 501 were for women, while the registered number of people whose employment was terminated during the reported period amounted to 8 951.  The registered number of women whose employment was terminated during the reporting period was 4 647 or 51.92%.

 

According to the BiH Agency for Statistics, the number of people in paid work in BiH amounted to 860 041 in January 2025, of whom 392 676 were women.  Compared to December 2024, the total number of people in work increased by 0.2% accompanied by an equivalent increase of 0.2% in the number of women in paid work. 

 

According to the results of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) for the fourth quarter of 2024, the labour force in BiH (economically active population) comprised 1 423 000 people and the number of inactive people amounted to 1 452 000. 

The labour force included 1 257 000 people in work and 166 000 unemployed people. The LFS unemployment rate was substantially lower than the administrative rate and it stood at 11.7% for the fourth quarter of 2024 at the level of BiH.

The number of people in work in the fourth quarter of 2024 increased by 0.2% compared to the third quarter, while the number of the unemployed decreased by 4.1%.

The unemployment rate in BiH stood at 11.7% in the fourth quarter of 2024 and it was lower compared to the third quarter of 2024 (12.2%) by 0.5 percentage points.  The LFS employment rate in the fourth quarter of 2024 stood at 43.7% and it increased by 0.1 percentage points compared to the third quarter of 2024 (43.6%).

The youth (aged 15-24) unemployment rate in BiH stood at 31.2% in the fourth quarter of 2024 which is a decrease of 0.2 percentage points compared to the third quarter (31.4%).