Bangladesh Labour Market Report 2026

71 Million Workers.
8 Million Skills Missing.

105 recruitment statistics that map Bangladesh's hiring landscape: from graduate joblessness and garment jobs to IT talent, freelancing and overseas labour.

1

Workforce at a Glance

71Memployed people, among South Asia's largest labour markets
4.70%unemployment in 2024, up from 4.20% in 2023
85%of workers operate in the informal economy
42%labour share of national income

The total labour force shrank from 73.4M (2023) to 71.7M (2024), the first decline since 2010.

2

Youth & Graduate Unemployment

Youth 15–29 (LFS 2022)
8%
Graduate unemployment
12.3%
Male youth 15–24 (2024)
13.68%
Youth 15–24 (ILO, 2023)
15.74%
NEET rate, ages 15–29
22%
799K

unemployed graduates in 2022

→
906K

unemployed graduates in 2023 (+107,000)

28 of every 100 unemployed Bangladeshis hold a higher-education degree. 50–60% of National University graduates are still jobless five years on.

3

Gender Gap in Work

44.15%

female labour force participation in 2024, an all-time high

1.6M

women left the labour force between 2023 and 2024

Men: employee rate
49%
Women: employee rate
18%
NEET: young women
27.1%
NEET: young men
16.2%
4

Ready-Made Garments: The Job Engine

4Mgarment workers, over 80% women
84%of export revenue in 2024
12,500BDT monthly entry minimum wage (~$113)
9%annual wage increment from Jan 2025

Automation could cut the garment workforce by one-third, and about 60% of industrial workers face high automation risk.

5

IT & Digital Talent

4,500+IT / ITES firms
750K+ICT professionals
40%+annual IT sector growth
$5Bprojected IT/ITES market by 2025
CSE graduates per year
12,000
New entry-level tech jobs
~5,000

Nearly 7,000 CSE graduates a year find no local entry-level role. 42% of IT professionals are actively seeking new jobs.

6

Salaries

BDT 27–28K

average monthly salary in 2026

$41,465

average annual software engineer salary

DevOps Engineer
BDT 43,605
AI Developer
BDT 31,600
Full Stack Developer
BDT 27,600

The RMG minimum wage is under a quarter of the estimated $460 monthly living wage in Dhaka.

7

Freelancing & Gig Economy

650Kregistered freelancers (~500K active)
#2largest freelance workforce globally
$500–700average monthly freelance income
1M+gig workers in total
Delivery workers
400,000
Freelancers
500,000
Ride-sharing workers
200,000
8

Overseas Employment

1.30Mworkers deployed in 2023 (record)
1.01Mdeployed in 2024
1.125M+deployed in 2025, up 11.27%
13M+Bangladeshis living abroad
Skill mix of 2025 migrants
43.47%
34.46%
19.13%
Less-skilledSemi-skilledSkilledProfessional 2.94%

Saudi Arabia took 750,967 Bangladeshi workers in 2025, over two-thirds of all deployments.

9

Remittances

$32.8B

record remittances in 2025, up 22%

→
$35B+

projected inflows for FY 2025–26

Remittances crossed $30B for the first time in FY 2024–25, a 26.81% year-on-year rise.

10

The Skills Gap

89.6%of workers in nine key sectors lack formal training
8Madditional skilled workers needed
1.53%of GDP spent on education in FY 2025–26
39.1score on QS Future Skills Index (67th of 81)

The 9CV9 Takeaway

Bangladesh offers a huge talent pool, but the winners in 2026 will hire for practical, digital skills rather than degrees alone, and invest in reskilling and retention.

Source: 9cv9 Research Team, “Top 105 Recruitment Statistics, Data & Trends in Bangladesh in 2026” (blog.9cv9.com), drawing on ILO, World Bank, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Bangladesh Bank, BGMEA, BASIS and BIDS. NEET = not in employment, education or training.