Iran’s jobless rate falls 0.4% y/y in Dec quarter to 7.2%: SCI

Figures by the Iranian government’s statistics agency show that the unemployment rate in the country fell slightly in the quarter to December 20 last year compared to the same quarter in 2023.

News ID: 6036

Date: 18 February 2025 - 12:33

TABNAK, Feb 18: The Statistical Center of Iran (SCI) said in a report published on Monday that the jobless rate in the country had reached 7.2% in the December quarter, down 0.4% from the same previous quarter.

The SCI had reported jobless rates of 7.7% and 7.5% for the quarters to late June and late September.

The jobless rate for men fell from 6.1% in September to 5.9% in December, the SCI said, adding that unemployment among Iranian women had also dropped from 14.2% to 13.7% over the same quarter.

Unemployment in Iran’s urban regions was 7.8% in the December quarter, down from 8.2% in the previous quarter, the agency said, adding that the jobless rate for the rural population had also declined from 5.4% to 5.2% over the same period.

SCI figures showed that the province of Tehran, where the Iranian capital is located, had the lowest unemployment rate among 31 Iranian provinces in the December quarter as around 4.5% of the province’s population of above 15-year-olds were jobless over the period.

The highest jobless rate among Iranian provinces was reported in the impoverished Sistan and Baluchestan province, located on the border with Pakistan and Afghanistan in southeast Iran, where unemployment was at 12.5% over the quarter to late December, the SCI data showed.

Iran has introduced plans in recent years to diversify its economy away from oil revenues amid sanctions imposed by the US on the country’s energy sector.

That has allowed a major expansion in manufacturing, mining, and agricultural activities in Iran, leading to more jobs for the country’s youth.