In a report, the Eghtesad News website revealed that according to data from Iran’s Statistics Center, the unemployment rate among youths aged 15 to 24 exceeds the national average. One of the cited reasons is the mismatch between working hours and educational commitments.
Official statistics indicate that the highest youth unemployment rate, within the 15 to 24 age bracket, was recorded in the winter of 2010 over the past 19 years.
The ‘Eco Iran’ website also reported that in spring 2005, youth unemployment within the 15 to 24 age group stood at 24%, escalating to over 31% in the winter of 2010, marking the highest rate in 19 years.
Youth unemployment peaked at 30% in 2016, partly due to increased labor market participation and insufficient capacity to absorb all job seekers.
Echo Iran further highlighted in September 2023, based on official statistics, that the active workforce numbered nearly 26.8 million during the summer of 2023. It emphasized that 2.115 million of these individuals were unable to secure employment, thus classified as unemployed.
Citing available statistics, the economic website stated that in the previous year’s summer, Iran’s labor market harbored 1.643 million unemployed individuals aged 18 to 35.
Meanwhile, Etemad newspaper, analyzing these statistics, reported that since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, over three million people have joined Iran’s working-age population. However, a commensurate number of job opportunities have not been generated, leaving a significant portion of new job seekers unemployed.
A media report from February 2024 revealed that in the fall of 2023, the unemployment rate among women aged 15 to 24 exceeded 20% in 26 provinces. Echo Iran also addressed this disparity, noting that the rate among young men surpassed 20% in 14 provinces. Statistics from the Statistics Center indicated that in the fall of 2023, the unemployment rate for young men was 18.5%, while for women in Iran, it stood at 9.9%.
Several experts and analysts have highlighted that despite numerous promises from senior regime officials to create millions of jobs, official statistics continue to reflect widespread youth unemployment in Iran.
Drawing from official statistics, they assert that 42.8% of the total unemployed population in the country consists of higher education graduates, with a significant portion being educated rural women.
Since mid-June 2021, Ebrahim Raisi, the president of the regime, has consistently pledged to create ‘one million jobs annually,’ a campaign slogan reiterated by Sowlat Mortazavi, the current Minister of Cooperatives, Labour, and Social Welfare of Iran. However, these claims have sparked considerable criticism, with experts frequently highlighting regime manipulation of indicators or temporal shifts in statistics.
