Labour market overview, situation as of 31 January 2025



As of 31 January 2025, 323 628 people were registered as unemployed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  Compared to a month earlier, the number of the unemployed increased by 2 932 or 0.91%.  Of the total number of job seekers, 191 378 or 59.14% were women.  Compared to the same period a year earlier, the unemployment level in BiH decreased by 16 933 or 4.97%. 

Unemployment level increased by 2 432 (0.95%) in the FBiH, by 432 (0.81%) in RS, and by 60 persons (0.58%) in the BD BiH.

The structure of job seekers as of 31 January 2025 is as follows:

Unskilled workers: 94 587 or 29.23%, comprising 37 904 (28.66%) men and 56 683 (29.62%) women

Semi-skilled workers/low educational background: 4 482 or 1.38%, comprising 2 107 (1.59%) men and 2 375 (1.24%) women

Skilled workers: 101 250 or 31.29%, comprising 51 585 (39.01%) men and 49 665 (25.95%) women

Highly skilled workers: 710 or 0.22%, comprising 538 (0.41%) men and 172 (0.22%) women

Secondary school qualifications: 91 849 or 28.38%, comprising 31 135 (23.54%) men and 60 714 (31.72%) women

Two-year post-secondary education: 5 043 or 1.56%, comprising 1 694 (1.28%) men and 3 349 (1.75%) women

University degree: 25 707 or 7.94%, comprising 7 287 (5.51%) men and 18 420 (9.62%) women

Within the total number of registered unemployed people, 14 112 were newly added to the register in January 2025, of whom 7 079 were women.  The total number of people who were deregistered amounted to 11 254, of whom 5 834 were women.  Of the total number of people who were deregistered, 6 776 or 60.21% were placed in jobs, of whom 3 650 or 53.87% were women.  

In January 2025, employers reported 2 161 new vacancies to public employment services in BiH, of which 439 were for women, while the registered number of people whose employment was terminated during the reported period amounted to 11 074.  The registered number of women whose employment was terminated during the reporting period was 5 464 or 49.34%.

 

According to the BiH Agency for Statistics, the number of people in paid work in BiH amounted to 858 042 in December 2024, of whom 391 891 were women.  Compared to November 2024, the total number of people in work decreased by 0.1% accompanied by an equivalent decrease of 0.1% 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%).