The National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda (NISR) has reported that unemployment in Rwanda fell by 2.5% in 2025, with 676,340 Rwandans without jobs, representing 12.4% of the workforce.
The 2025 report is based on a NISR survey designed to capture employment, unemployment, and those outside the labor force.
The survey shows that in 2025, one in eight people in the labor market was without a job.
In 2025, the working-age population in Rwanda, defined as people aged 16 and above, reached 8,542,210, with 5,449,044 people (63.8%) participating in the labor force.
Of these, 4,772,704 were employed, representing 55.9%, up from 53.5% in 2024. Meanwhile, 3,092,165 people (36.2%) were outside the labor force, meaning that 5.4 million people in the labor market were available to work.
The report indicates that men remain more represented in the labor market than women, although the gap is narrowing: from 14.3% in 2024 to a 1.2% decrease in 2025.
Unemployment among women remains higher than among men, at 14.2% in 2025 compared to 10.8% for men. Youth unemployment was 14.7%, while for adults it was 10.8%.
The gender gap in unemployment fell from 5% in 2024 to 3.3% in 2025, a reduction of 1.7 percentage points.
Urban and rural unemployment rates were roughly equal in 2025, both at around 12%.
NISR also reported that the employment-to-population ratio (EPR) rose to 55.9% in 2025, up from 53.5% in 2024.
Both men and women saw increases: for men, the ratio rose by 1.4% to 63.6%, and for women by 3.1% to 49%.
The services sector employed the largest share of workers, accounting for 44.4% of all employment, up from 42.9% in 2024, while agriculture and industry remained unchanged from the previous year.
The report further highlights that 56% of working-age Rwandans are underutilizing their skills. This includes people who are unemployed, those working part-time, or those in jobs that do not fully match their skill levels.
This challenge is more pronounced among women, with 63.1% underutilizing their skills, compared to 48.5% of men. Among youth, 56.7% are underutilized, while among adults it is 55.5%.
Between 2024 and 2025, this underutilization declined by 1.8%.
Over the past five years, Rwanda’s unemployment rate has steadily decreased: from 21.1% in 2021 to 20.5% in 2022, 17.2% in 2023, 14.9% in 2024, and 12.4% in 2025.
Conversely, employment has increased over the same period, from 42.6% in 2021 to 44.5% in 2022, 49% in 2023, 53.5% in 2024, and 55.9% in 2025.
