The estimated economically active population is about 8.5 million in the fourth quarter 2021, of which 64.8 % are males and 35.2 % are females. The economically inactive population is about 8.7 million. Out of the economically inactive population 26.9% are males and 73.1 % are females.
The highest participation rate for male is reported from age group 35 – 39 years (97.4%), while that for females is reported from 45 – 49 age group (47.7%), according to the Department of Census and Statistics.
During the fourth quarter of 2021, the total number of employed persons in Sri Lanka is estimated as 8.1 million. Of which, about 46.9 % engaged in the service sector, 270 % in the industry sector and 26.1 % in the agriculture sector. In the fourth quarter of 2021, there is an increase in employed persons in industry and service sectors compared to the fourth quarter of 2020. Majority of the workforce are private sector employees followed by their own account workers. The agriculture sector covers 73.9 % of the employed population in Sri Lanka, employees and own account workers are highly constrained in that sector. The attached table depicts the percentage distribution of male and female employed population by main industry sectors. Highest employment share is in the service sector and this is true for both male & female, while the lowest shares are for the agriculture sector. Among employed females 27% is in agriculture sector while this share is 3.7 % for males.
Overall unemployment rate reported for females is 7 % and it is 3.3 % for male. Youth unemployment rate (age 15- 24 years) corresponding to the Third quarter 2021 is 28.1 % and that is the highest reported unemployment rate among all age groups. Further the unemployment rates for males and females are 19.1 and 31.8 % respectively for age group 15 – 24. The survey results further reveal that the unemployment among females is higher than that of males, in all age groups. Youth and female unemployment contribute more to the overall unemployment of the country.
The number of unemployed persons is estimated as 391,509 during the fourth quarter 2021. The unemployment rate for the fourth quarter2021 is 4.6 %. The highest unemployment rate is reported from the G.C.C. (A/L) and above group which is 7.6 %. The corresponding percentages are 5.5 % and 9.6 % for males and females respectively.