Labour market overview, situation as of 31 August 2024



As of 31 August 2024, 329 829 people were registered as unemployed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  Compared to a month earlier, the number of the unemployed increased by 1 155 or 0.35%.  Of the total number of job seekers, 196 029 or 59.43% were women.  Compared to the same period a year earlier, unemployment level in BiH decreased by 20 487 or 5.85%. 

Unemployment level fell by 38 (0.07%) in RS and by 24 (0.2%) in BD BiH, while it increased by 1 217 (0.47%) in FBiH.

The structure of job seekers as of 31 August 2024 is as follows:

Unskilled workers: 95 380 or 28.92%, comprising 38 020 (28.42%) men and 57 360 (29.26%) women

Semi-skilled workers/low educational background: 4 616 or 1.40%, comprising 2 164 (1.62%) men and 2 452 (1.25%) women

Skilled workers: 102 155 or 30.97%, comprising 52 076 (38.92%) men and 50 079 (25.55%) women

Highly skilled workers: 764 or 0.23%, comprising 589 (0.44%) men and 175 (0.09%) women

Secondary school qualifications: 92 532 or 28.05%, comprising 31 378 (23.45%) men and 61 154 (31.20%) women

Two-year post-secondary education: 5 371 or 1.63%, comprising 1 769 (1.32%) men and 3 602 (1.84%) women

University degree: 29 011 or 8.80%, comprising 7 804 (5.83%) men and 21 207 (10.82%) women

Within the total number of registered unemployed people, 14 820 were newly added to the register in August 2024, of whom 7 970 were women.  The total number of people who were deregistered amounted to 13 743, of whom 6 824 were women.  Of the total number of people who were deregistered, 5 778 or 42.04% were placed in jobs, of whom 3 073 or 53.18% were women.  

In August 2024, employers reported 5 235 new vacancies to public employment services in BiH, of which 721 were for women, while the registered number of people whose employment was terminated during the reported period amounted to 9 442.  The registered number of women whose employment was terminated during the reporting period was 5 308 or 56.22%.

According to the BiH Agency for Statistics, the number of people in paid work in BiH amounted to 853 166 in July 2024, of whom 386 608 were women.  Compared to June 2024, the total number of people in work, as well as the number of women in paid work decreased, by 0.2% and 0.6% respectively.

According to the results of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) for the second quarter 2024, the labour force in BiH (economically active population) comprised 1 410 000 people and the number of inactive people amounted to 1 466 000. 

The labour force included 1 223 000 people in employment and 187 000 unemployed people. The LFS unemployment rate was significantly lower than the administrative one and it stood at 13.3% for the second quarter of 2024 at the level of BiH.

The number of people in work in the second quarter of 2024 increased by 1.5% compared to the first quarter, while the number of the unemployed remained unchanged.

The unemployment rate in BiH stood at 13.3% in the second quarter of 2024 and it was lower compared to the first quarter of 2024 (13.5%) by 0.2 percentage points.  The LFS employment rate in the second quarter of 2024 stood at 42.5% and compared to the first quarter of 2024 (41.9%) it increased by 0.6 percentage points.

The youth unemployment rate (aged 15-24) in BiH stood at 30.4% in the second quarter of 2024 and compared to the first quarter (27.4%) it increased by 3.0 percentage points.