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Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) Labor Force Survey 2024, the country’s total labor force stands at 71.71 million (7 crore 17 lakh 10 thousand). Out of this demographic, 69.09 million are currently employed, while 2.62 million remain unemployed, reflecting a national unemployment rate of 3.66%.
Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury presented these figures in the Jatiya Sangsad on Thursday (September 10) in response to a query tabled by treasury bench lawmaker Advocate Md. Jalal Uddin (Kishoreganj-2).
Detailing sectoral employment distribution, the minister noted that the agriculture sector employs the largest share with 30.87 million workers (44.67% of total employment). The service sector accommodates 26.22 million people (37.96%), while the industrial sector accounts for 12.00 million individuals (17.37%).
Demographic breakdowns by geography show that urban areas housed a labor force of 18.74 million in 2024, of whom 17.92 million were actively employed. In contrast, the rural labor force reached 52.97 million, with 51.17 million engaged in economic activities.
The minister added that the population outside the labor force stood at 50.4 million in 2024, comprising 12.03 million males and 38.01 million females.
