Karungi Doreen
Rwanda’s labour market recorded notable improvements in the fourth quarter of 2025, with unemployment declining and employment levels increasing, according to the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR).
NISR data shows that the working age population (16 years and above) was estimated at 8.6 million in November 2025. of this number, 4.9 million people were employed, 646,000 were unemployed, while 3.1 million people were outside the labour force. Overall, the labour force stood at 5.5 million people, representing a labour force participation rate of 64.1 percent, a figure that remained stable compared to the same period in 2024.
Employment levels continued to improve, with the employment to population ratio rising to 56.7 percent, up from 54.6 percent in Q4 2024. The increase was more pronounced among women, whose employment rate grew by 3.3 percentage points, while employment among men remained largely unchanged. Despite this progress, men continued to record higher employment levels (63.7 percent) compared to women (50.4 percent).
According to NISR, unemployment declined significantly in the fourth quarter of 2025, standing at 11.7 percent, a three-percentage-point decrease compared to the same quarter in 2024. This translates to approximately one unemployed person for every nine individuals in the labour force and remains well below the pre COVID19 unemployment rate of 15.4 percent recorded in 2019.
Youth and women continued to face higher unemployment rates despite the overall improvement. Youth unemployment dropped to 14.1 percent, from 18 percent in Q4 2024, while unemployment among adults stood at 10 percent. Female unemployment was estimated at 13 percent, higher than the 10.5 percent recorded among males, although the gender gap narrowed to 2.5 percentage points.
The report also highlights labour underutilization as a persistent challenge. The labour underutilization rate stood at 56.5 percent in Q4 2025, reflecting an increase compared to the same quarter in 2024. Women were more affected (63.4 percent) than men (49.2 percent), while youth (57.1 percent) experienced slightly higher underutilization than adults.
Overall, NISR notes that Rwanda’s labour market continued to recover in Q4 2025, marked by declining unemployment and rising employment. However, the institute emphasizes that addressing job quality, underemployment, and inclusive access to productive employment remains a key priority.
