Labour market situation as of 31 July 2025



As of 31 July 2025, 320 940 people were registered as unemployed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  Compared to a month earlier, the number of the unemployed increased by 4 013 persons or 1.27%.  Of the total number of job seekers, 199 407 or 59.46% were women.  Compared to the same period a year earlier, the unemployment level in BiH decreased by 7 734 or 2.35%. 

The unemployment level decreased by 91 persons (0.18%) in the RS, while it increased by 4 090 persons (1.61%) in the FBiH and by 14 persons (0.12%) in the BD BiH.  

The structure of job seekers as of 31 July 2025 is as follows:

Unskilled workers: 92 051 or 28.68%, comprising 36 564 (28.23%) men and 55 487 (28.99%) women

Semi-skilled workers/low educational background: 4 215 or 1.31%, comprising 1 977 (1.53%) men and 2 238 (1.17%) women

Skilled workers: 100 003 or 31.16%, comprising 50 633 (39.09%) men and 49 370 (25.79%) women

Highly skilled workers: 643 or 0.20%, comprising 467 (0.36%) men and 176 (0.09%) women

Secondary school qualifications: 91 668 or 28.56%, comprising 30 918 (23.87%) men and 60 750 (31.74%) women

Two-year post-secondary education: 5 011 or 1.56%, comprising 1 589 (1.23%) men and 3 422 (1.79%) women

University degree: 27 349 or 8.52%, comprising 7 385 (5.70%) men and 19 964 (10.43%) women

Within the total number of registered unemployed people, 15 776 were newly added to the register in July 2025, of whom 8 734 were women.  The total number of people who were deregistered amounted to 11 807, of whom 5 803 were women.  Of the total number of people who were deregistered, 7 164 or 60.68% were placed in jobs, of whom 3 622 or 50.56% were women.  

In July 2025, employers reported 2 539 new vacancies to public employment services in BiH, of which 333 were for women. At the same time, the registered number of people whose employment terminated during the reported period amounted to 10 568.  The registered number of women whose employment terminated during the reporting period was 6 256 or 59.20%.

 

According to the BiH Agency for Statistics, the number of people in paid work in BiH in June 2025 amounted to 853 348, of whom 390 447 were women.  Compared to May 2025, the total number of people in work increased by 0.1%, while the number of women in paid work remained unchanged. 

 

According to the results of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) for the first quarter of 2025, the labour force in BiH (economically active population) comprised 1 413 000 people and the number of inactive people amounted to 1 463 000. 

The labour force included 1 235 000 people in work and 179 000 unemployed people. The LFS unemployment rate in the first quarter of 2025 was substantially lower than the administrative one and it stood at 12.6% at the level of BiH.

The number of people in work in the first quarter of 2025 dropped by 1.8% compared to the fourth quarter of 2024, while the number of the unemployed increased by 7.8%.

The unemployment rate in the first quarter stood at 12.6% and it was higher compared to the fourth quarter of 2024 (11.7%) by 0.9 percentage points.  The LFS employment rate in the first quarter of 2025 stood at 42.9% and it was lower by 0.8 percentage points compared to the fourth quarter of 2024 (43.7%).

The youth (aged 15-24) unemployment rate in BiH in the first quarter of 2025 was 30.2% which is a decrease of 1.0 percentage point compared to the fourth quarter of 2024 (31.2%).