Tunisia’s unemployment rate has risen slightly to 15.4% compared to 15.3% at the end of last June. In itself, this increase is modest, according to data published by the National Institute of Statistics on Saturday.
These data reveal a decline in the number of employed persons to 3.605 million.
Although slight, this drop occurs in a context where the economy should have started to absorb more workers after several years of tensions and successive crises.
The sectoral structure reinforces this diagnosis: 53.5% of jobs are in services, often precarious and low-productivity; only 19.2% in manufacturing industries; 13.2% in non-manufacturing industries; and 14.2% in agriculture, a sector in continuous crisis.
This distribution confirms the weakness of the industrial fabric and the economy’s inability to create skilled, high-value-added jobs.
The active population slightly declined to 4.259 million by the end of the third quarter of the current year.
While seemingly minor, this figure is revealing: an activity rate slipping to 46.1% and a female active population that remains marginalized (31.4%).
The breakdown by gender reveals concerning imbalances: 12.1% among men (a slight improvement) and 22.4% among women, a clear deterioration.
This gap illustrates the persistent exclusion of women from the labor market and the absence of effective policies to promote their integration.
Female unemployment, twice as high as male unemployment, is a marker of deep structural inequalities and a lack of economic opportunities.
The 15-24 age group, which represents the country’s future productive force, is the hardest hit.
With a rate of 40.1%, up more than 3 points in one quarter, the situation is becoming critical.
Two aggravating factors: an unemployment rate of 38.9% among young men and 42.7% among young women.
University graduates show an unemployment rate of 24.9%, which is also rising. The divide is dramatic: 14.5% among male graduates and 32.3% among female graduates.
This situation reflects a structural paradox: Tunisia produces a growing number of graduates every year… whom the economy is incapable of absorbing.
This mismatch between education and market demand severely hampers growth and generates a massive waste of human capital.
