• Senegal broad unemployment rises to 23.3% in Q4 2025

• Rate highlights underemployment beyond 5.4% ILO measure

• Youth, women, rural areas most affected by joblessness

Senegal's broad unemployment rate rose to 23.3% in the fourth quarter of 2025, up 3.3 percentage points from 20.0% a year earlier, according to a national employment survey published in March 2026 by the Agence nationale de la statistique et de la démographie.

The increase also marks a sharp rise from 19.2% in the third quarter of 2025.

The figure must be read in the context of what it measures. The broad definition goes beyond the International Labour Organization (ILO) standard, including people without work who are available but have stopped looking for work for reasons outside their control.

Under the strict ILO definition, the unemployment rate stood at 5.4% over the same period. The gap between the two measures highlights the extent of underemployment not captured by the ILO definition alone.

What the data show

National averages mask sharp disparities. Unemployment is lower in urban areas, at 19.6%, than in rural areas, where it reaches 29.2%. Young people are the most affected, with a rate of 27.4%, compared with 18.7% among adults. Women are more affected than men across all age groups and regions.

The labour force participation rate declined to 55.5% in the fourth quarter of 2025 from 57.0% a year earlier, a drop of 1.5 percentage points. Over the same period, the share of wage employment in total employment rose to 40.6% from 38.6%. It remains higher in urban areas than in rural areas, and higher among men than women.

Over the past three years, the broad unemployment rate has ranged between 18.6% in the second quarter of 2023 and 23.3% in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Félicien Houindo Lokossou