It is higher among the males compared to females
The total working age population for the third quarter of the year by sex and area, 52.4% is males and 47.6% are females, indicating more males than females in the working age population. Majority of them are residing in rural (63.1%) than in urban (36.9%) areas, according to the quarterly report released by the National Statistical Bureau (NSB).
A total of 391,113 persons aged 15 years and older were economically active, out of which 60.9% are males and 39.1% are females. It is more concentrated in rural areas (66.5%) compared to urban areas (33.5%). Among the inactive population (209,299), 36.6% are males and 63.4% are females. More than half of the inactive population is residing in rural areas, while 43.3% are in urban areas.
Economically active population includes all the persons aged 15 years and above who are either employed or unemployed during the reference period. Economically inactive population includes all persons who neither worked nor were seeking/available for work during the reference period. It includes all those persons who are not a part of labour force or fall outside the labour force.
The report outlines that overall Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for the third quarter stands at 65.1%. It is higher among the males (75.7%) compared to the females (53.5%). By area, the LFPR is higher in the rural areas (68.7%) than in urban areas (59.1%).
Among the dzongkhags, Tsirang (82.7%) dzongkhag has the highest LFPR, while Chhukha (54.2%) dzongkhag has the lowest. The LFPR for males is higher than that of females in all dzongkhags, with Thimphu (86.3%) dzongkhag having the highest. Among the females, the highest LFPR is observed in Tsirang (80.8%) dzongkhag for the current quarter.
By Thromde, Gelephu (70.9%) has the highest LFPR, while Thimphu (56.2%) Thromde has the lowest.
It is observed that the lowest (7.4%) LFPR is found among the youngest age group (15-19 years) where the highest inactivity rate (92.6%) is observed. As individuals enter the workforce, the labour force participation rate increases sharply, reaching 58.0% for those aged 20-24 and peaking at 86.0% for the ages 40-44 years. The inactivity rate during the prime working age (30-54) is relatively low, ranging from a low of 4.0% to 19.8%.
Beyond the age of 55 years, the LFPR declines gradually, and plummets to 35.7% for those 65 and older, while inactivity rises, reaching the high of 64.3% for same age group. Overall, the total LFPR and inactivity rate stands at 65.1%, and 34.9% respectively reflecting the typical pattern of labor force engagement peaking in midlife and declining toward retirement age.
The overall employment rate in Bhutan for the third quarter 2024 is 96.90%. It is higher among the males (97.6%) than their female (95.80%) counterparts. Compared to the previous quarter, the rate has increased by 0.56 percentage points. However, since the confidence intervals (CI: 95.39, 97.10) for the employment rates of the two quarters overlap, the differences between the two quarters are not statistically significant.
Further, it is observed that the employment rate is higher in rural areas (96%) than in urban areas (94%). Among the dzongkhags, Samtse has the highest employment rate (99.8%), followed by Punakha (98.9%), while Trashigang and Zhemgang has 98.8% each. On the contrary, the lowest employment rate is observed in Samdrup Jongkhar (94.4%), followed by Thimphu (95.8%) dzongkhags. There is a significant disparity in employment rates between rural and urban areas, as well as across dzongkhags. Among the thromdes, Gelephu (94.5%) has the highest employment rate, while Phuentshogling (89.7%) Thromde has the lowest. This indicates a noticeable variation in employment levels between the thromdes.
The distribution of employed persons across different age groups has maintained the pattern that was observed in the previous quarters. For the productive age group (15-64 years), the employment rate is estimated at 96.7%, with 97.5% for males at and 95.5% for females. In contrast, the youth population (15-24 years) has the lowest employment rate at 83.5%. The males (88.1%) have a significantly higher rate than that of the females (78.2%). However, it is observed that the employment rate for both males and females aged 65 years and above is 100%. This suggests that all persons in this age group who are available for work are employed during the survey reference period. In terms of the proportion employed persons by sector, the agriculture (44.08%) sector has the highest share, while the industry (15.5%) has the lowest. Notably, there has been slight increase in the share of employed persons in the agriculture sector in the third quarter compared to the previous quarter.
Throughout all three quarters of the survey, it is observed that a higher proportion of females are engaged in the agriculture sector, while a larger proportion of males are employed in the service sector. This pattern highlights the gender-specific trends in employment across different sectors. In the third quarterly survey, it is observed that slightly more than one-third of employed persons are classified as paid employees. Among the employed persons in urban areas, majority of them are paid employees, while in the rural areas about one-fourth of them are in the same category. Approximately 36% of employed persons are classified as “own account workers,” and 24% are “family worker” employed either in agriculture or non-agriculture. Among the male employed persons, 47% are working as “wage employees”, while 25% of employed females are in the same category. On the contrary, a proportion of employed females (31.6%) who works as unpaid family workers in the agriculture sector is higher compared to the employed males (16.9%).
Of the total of 379,022 employed persons, the majority (43.6%) are classified as skilled agricultural, forestry, and fishery workers. While approximately 11% are employed as managers, about 8% work as craft and related trade workers.
It is observed that the distribution of employed persons across different occupations varies significantly between males and females. This disparity highlights the distinct occupational roles that each sex plays within the labor market.
About one-third of employed persons do not possess any formal education. Approximately 14% have completed higher secondary education, while 13% have middle secondary education and 13.6% have primary education. Additionally, 9.4% of employed persons reported having a bachelor’s degree or higher.
It is observed that approximately 44% of employed persons in the third quarter are engaged in agricultural farming, while 31% are working in private businesses. About 14% are employed in government agencies, and 6% work for public or government companies. This distribution illustrates the sectors in which the employed persons are actively engaged.
In the mean hours worked per week by employed persons in their primary and secondary jobs, categorized by area and sex, the overall mean is estimated at 50 hours per week. It is observed that male employed persons work more hours, averaging 51 hours, compared to female employed persons, who work for 49 hours on an average. Additionally, when comparing by area of residence, those in rural areas work more hours on average (51 hours) than their urban counterparts (49 hours). The monthly income data for employed persons is collected from those classified as paid employees, own account workers, and employers. The mean monthly income for this group is estimated at Nu. 25,820. It is noted that the mean monthly income is higher among the male employed persons compared to their female counterparts. A similar disparity in income is also observed between males and females across different areas of residence.
For the third quarter, the sample size was 3,027 households, with 2,989 households participating in the survey. This translates to the survey response rate of 98.7% in its entirety.
Tashi Namgyal from Thimphu
