Labour market overview, 31 August 2025



As of 31 August 2025, 322 121 people were registered as unemployed in Bosnia and Herzegovina.  Compared to a month earlier, the number of the unemployed increased by 1 181 persons or 0.37%.  Of the total number of job seekers, 192 574 or 59.78% were women.  Compared to the same period a year earlier, unemployment in BiH decreased by 7 708 or 2.34%. 

Unemployment decreased by 227 persons (0.44%) in the RS, while it increased by 1 303 persons (0.37%) in the FBiH and by 105 persons (0.91%) in the BD BiH.  

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

Unskilled workers: 91 841 or 28.51%, comprising 36 446 (28.13%) men and 55 395 (28.77%) women

Semi-skilled workers/low educational background: 4 198 or 1.30%, comprising 1 969 (1.52%) men and 2 229 (1.16%) women

Skilled workers: 100 037 or 31.06%, comprising 50 558 (39.03%) men and 49 479 (25.79%) women

Highly skilled workers: 641 or 0.20%, comprising 465 (0.36%) men and 176 (0.09%) women

Secondary school qualifications: 91 648 or 28.45%, comprising 30 878 (23.84%) men and 60 770 (31.56%) women

Two-year post-secondary education: 5 103 or 1.58%, comprising 1 619 (1.25%) men and 3 484 (1.81%) women

University degree: 28 653 or 8.90%, comprising 7 612 (5.88%) men and 21 041 (10.93%) women

Within the total number of registered unemployed people, 11 648 were newly added to the register in August 2025, of whom 6 415 were women.  The total number of people who were deregistered amounted to 10 524, of whom 5 270 were women.  Of the total number of people who were deregistered, 6 333 or 60.18% were placed in jobs, of whom 3 279 or 51.78% were women.  

In August 2025, employers reported 3 507 new vacancies to public employment services in BiH, of which 464 were for women. At the same time, the registered number of people whose employment terminated during the reported period amounted to 8 545.  The registered number of women whose employment terminated during the reporting period was 4 933 or 57.73%.

 

According to the BiH Agency for Statistics, the number of people in paid work in BiH in July 2025 amounted to 850 270, of whom 388 009 were women.  Compared to June 2025, the total number of people in work decreased by 0.4% and the number of women in work decreased by 0.6%. 

 

According to the results of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) for the second quarter of 2025, the labour force in BiH (economically active population) comprised 1 405 000 people and the number of inactive people amounted to 1 468 000. 

The labour force comprised 1 221 000 people in work and 184 000 unemployed people. The LFS unemployment rate in the second quarter of 2025 was substantially lower than the administrative one and it stood at 13.1% at the level of BiH.

The number of people in work in the second quarter of 2025 decreased by 1.1% compared to the first quarter of 2025, while the number of the unemployed increased by 2.8%.

The unemployment rate in the second quarter stood at 13.1% and it was higher compared to the first quarter of 2025 (12.6%) by 0.5 percentage points.  The LFS employment rate in the second quarter of 2025 stood at 42.5% and it was lower by 0.4 percentage points compared to the first quarter of 2025 (42.9%).

The youth (aged 15-24) unemployment rate in BiH in the second quarter of 2025 was 33.9%, which is an increase of 3.7 percentage point compared to the first quarter of 2025 (30.2%).