The number of educated unemployed in Bangladesh has more than doubled over the past eight years, with one in every three jobless individuals now holding a university degree, according to the latest official data.
The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), in its final report from the Labour Force Survey 2024, reveals that unemployment is disproportionately high among educated youth, particularly university graduates. The data also highlights a troubling rise in long-term unemployment among this group.
Of the country’s 26.24 lakh unemployed, some 8,85,000 are graduates — a figure that has more than doubled since 2017, when the number stood at approximately 4,00,000.
Despite overall unemployment levels remaining relatively stable in recent years, the proportion of degree-holders among the jobless has risen sharply.
Many of these graduates, particularly from lower-middle and middle-income families, are living with parents under growing financial and psychological pressure.
Others reside in shared accommodation in urban centres, enduring increasingly precarious conditions while they await dignified employment opportunities.
The report shows that among 15 to 29-year-olds — the age group most affected by joblessness — over 17% of graduates have remained unemployed for more than two years.
By contrast, long-term unemployment is about 8% among higher secondary school leavers and just 1% among those with no formal education.
The findings paint a stark picture of mismatch and stagnation in the country’s labour market, with many young graduates either unable to find work at all or forced to settle for jobs far below their qualifications and expectations.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines a person as unemployed only if they have actively sought work in the past month and failed to secure at least one hour of paid employment in the past week.
However, local experts argue that this benchmark — while internationally accepted — is detached from Bangladesh’s socio-economic reality, where survival on such limited work is unfeasible.
In addition to the formally unemployed, nearly one crore people in Bangladesh fall into the category of "underemployed" or disguised unemployed — those who are technically working but unable to secure jobs that match their skills, education, or aspirations.
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