The overall unemployment rate stood at 11.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2025, down three percentage points from 14.7 per cent in the same period of 2024, according to a new report by the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR).
This translates to roughly one unemployed person for every nine individuals in the labour force.
The report notes that the rate remains below the pre-Covid-19 level of 15.4 per cent recorded in November 2019, pointing to a gradual recovery from pandemic-era shocks, even as underemployment and labour underutilisation remain elevated.
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As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, which severely disrupted both local and global economies and labour markets, unemployment rose sharply, peaking at 24.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2022, according to NISR.
The latest report shows that youth unemployment declined to 14.1 per cent in Q4 2025, down from 18 per cent in the same period of 2024, representing a nearly four-percentage-point drop.
Labour force overview
During the same period, the working-age population (16 years and above) was estimated at 8.6 million. Of this total, 4.9 million people were employed, 646,000 were unemployed, while 3.1 million were outside the labour force.
Those outside the labour force are individuals who are neither employed nor actively seeking work, including subsistence farmers, full-time students, the elderly, persons with disabilities that limit their ability to work, and discouraged job seekers.
The labour force, comprising both employed and unemployed persons, stood at 5.5 million, with the labour force participation rate holding steady at 64.1 per cent, virtually unchanged from 64 per cent in November 2024.
Similarly, the share of the population outside the labour force remained stable at 35.9 per cent, compared to 36 per cent a year earlier.
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Unemployment among females remains high
Unemployment remained higher among females (13 per cent) than males (10.5 per cent), while youth continued to face higher joblessness (14.1 per cent) compared to adults (10 per cent), the report shows.
Rural unemployment stood at 12 per cent, slightly higher than the 11 per cent recorded in urban areas.
The gender gap in unemployment narrowed to 2.5 percentage points in Q5 2025, down by 2.8 percentage points compared to the same quarter in the previous year.
Employment conditions improved over the year, with the employment-to-population ratio (EPR) rising to 56.7 per cent in November 2025 from 54.6 per cent in the same quarter of 2024.
The increase was driven largely by gains among women, whose EPR rose by 3.3 percentage points, while the rate for men remained stable.
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Despite the improvement, employment levels remained higher among men (63.7 per cent) than women (50.4 per cent).
As a result, the gender gap in employment narrowed to 13.3 percentage points in November 2025, down by 2.7 percentage points from a year earlier.
Employment was also higher among adults aged 31 years and above, with an EPR of 60 per cent, compared to 52.2 per cent among youth aged 16–30 years.
More than 60 per cent of employed persons were engaged in non-agricultural activities, highlighting a continued shift away from agriculture.
Labour underutilisation higher among women
Despite the improvements, labour market challenges persist. The labour underutilisation rate—which captures unemployment, time-related underemployment and potential labour force—stood at 56.5 per cent – overall – in November 2025.
Underutilisation was higher among females (63.4 per cent) than males (49.2 per cent), and slightly higher among youth (57.1 per cent) than adults (56.1 per cent).
The rate increased by 1.5 percentage points compared to 2024 Q4, indicating ongoing pressure in the labour market beyond headline unemployment figures.