96.6%
Employment rate, 2025
Up from a 94.1% low in 2022
3.4%
Unemployment rate, 2025
Down from 5.9% in 2022
18.0%
Youth unemployment (15-24)
Peaked at 28.6% in 2022
381,584
People employed, 2025
66.0% live in rural areas
Fewer people are in the labour market, led by women
Labour force participation rate, % of working-age population
Overall, 2021
69.1%
Overall, 2025
64.9%
Women, 2021
65.3%
Women, 2025
55.6%
Men, 2025
73.5%
Economic inactivity rose from 30.9% in 2021 to 35.1% in 2025. Women reached 44.4% inactive versus 26.5% for men, with education and family responsibilities the main reasons cited.
Unemployment fell from 5.9% to 3.4% in three years
Annual unemployment rate, %
COVID-19 lifted unemployment from about 3% to about 6%. Only years with a consistently reported figure are plotted.
Joblessness is urban, female and concentrated in Thimphu
Unemployment rate, 2025, %
By area and gender
Urban
6.0%
Rural
2.0%
Women
4.5%
Men
2.6%
By district
Thimphu
6.2%
Sarpang
5.3%
Chhukha
4.5%
Paro
4.4%
Gasa (lowest)
0.6%
3x
higher unemployment in urban than rural areas (calculated from 6.0% and 2.0%)
15%
of urban women were unemployed during the pandemic
Farms and services employ 86% of workers
Share of employment by sector, 2025
Agriculture43.6%
Services42.2%
Industry14.2%
71%
of total employment was self-employed work in 2022
1 in 3
salaried employees has no written employment contract
63%
of the non-public workforce works more than 48 hours a week
23.8%
of GDP is estimated to come from the informal economy
Youth jobless rate fell, but still sits at 18.0%
Unemployment rate, ages 15-24, %
All youth, 2022
28.6%
All youth, 2025
18.0%
Young men, 2022
24.4%
Young men, 2025
14.2%
Young women, 2025
21.9%
A 2022 figure for young women is not given in the source data.
Young jobseekers are a large, urban and gendered pool
Who the 18.0% are
45.1%
of all unemployed people in Bhutan are young
57.2%
of unemployed youth live in urban areas, against 42.8% in rural areas
1.5x
higher risk for young women of being outside employment, education or training
Typical pay is near BTN 25,000 a month, with a steep climb for lawyers and executives
Monthly earnings benchmarks in 2026, Bhutanese ngultrum (BTN). Bars show ranges; dots show single reported values.
Minimum wage (from Jan 2025)
BTN 3,750
Lower earners
BTN 10,000
Associate-level employees
About BTN 20,000
Median monthly income
BTN 23,000 (~USD 277)
Average monthly salary
BTN 25,720 (~USD 310)
Software developers
BTN 30,000-35,000
Government and defence
Avg BTN 40,700; range 21,600-63,700
Lawyers
BTN 70,000-75,000
Executives
BTN 74,500-83,000
0k20k40k60k80k
+25%
Thimphu salaries above the national average in government, finance and corporate roles
9%
more pay for men than women across professions, an estimated gender pay gap
2%
average annual salary increase, a benchmark for compensation planning
+25% / +30%
earnings premium for a bachelor's over a diploma, then a further estimated 30% for a master's
11%
more earned by public-sector staff than comparable private-sector workers
+25%
rise in the minimum wage, from BTN 3,000 (unchanged since 2013) to BTN 3,750 (calculated)
Brain drain is the biggest retention risk for employers
Skilled Bhutanese are leaving, hitting education, healthcare and the civil service hardest
Who is leaving, %
Graduates, share of migrants
53%
Graduates, share of working-age people
7%
Migrants once in civil service
49%
Education and health, share of 2024 voluntary resignations
~70%
Migrants from the education sector
25%
Reintegration programme, people (by May 2025)
Registered
560
Returned to Bhutan
170
Secured jobs
28
Civil-service resignations, 2024
All resignations
2,013
Voluntary (about)
~1,400
Career progression and pay were cited as important factors in voluntary exits.
172
doctors and specialists short
824
nurses short
1,126
teacher vacancies announced in March 2025
25,000+
Bhutanese in Australia, more than double 2020 levels
66,000
young people have left for work; nearly 1 in 10 Bhutanese lives abroad
Remittances: Australia dominates the inflow
USD 210 million received from August 2023 to October 2024
AustraliaUSD 132M
All other sources (calculated)USD 78M
~12M
USD a month from Australia by late 2024, up from under USD 2M in August 2023
36M
USD received in the first two months of 2025, versus 30M a year earlier
Foreign labour props up construction
Foreign-worker applications approved in 2023
137,324
Indian nationals
99.1%
Top sector
Construction, led by masons, carpenters and concrete workers
Top location
Thimphu hosts the largest concentration of foreign workers
Expat talent
74 multiple-entry work permits verified for FDI companies in FY 2024-25
Gelephu Mindfulness City could reset demand for talent
New investment and training targets reshaping who Bhutan hires next
100,000
jobs targeted by 2030 across eight pillar industries, including fintech, wellness tourism and green technology
2,500 km²
site area, planned for 150,000 residents within 7-10 years
1.3M
passengers a year for the first phase of its international airport
~750
applicants at the October 2025 recruitment drive in Thimphu
May 2025
First GMC recruitment drive
Architecture, engineering, urban planning, finance
Oct 2025
Second GMC drive in Thimphu
Nearly 750 applicants
2029
TVET covers 50% of the workforce
Target
2030
GMC reaches 100,000 jobs
Target
2033
TVET covers 80% of the workforce
Target
13,000+
youth in the Gyalsung programme: 3 months military training, 9 months skills
17
FDI projects approved in 2024, worth more than USD 183M
121
FDI projects since 2002, valued above USD 692M, mostly hotels, resorts and IT
24,463
active service-sector licences in 2025, versus 25,670 in 2023
The macro backdrop supports hiring, with inflation to watch
Growth, inflation, income and poverty indicators
4.8%
real GDP growth in FY 2024-25, forecast at 5.2% for FY 2025-26
5.76%
year-on-year inflation in January 2026, pressuring wages and budgets
USD 3,563
GNI per capita in 2025, more than twice the LDC graduation threshold
12.4%
poverty rate in 2022, down from 23.2% in 2007
What this means for hiring teams
9cv9 reading of the data
Source talent in Thimphu, budget for the premium
Urban unemployment is 6.0% against 2.0% in rural areas, yet Thimphu pay runs about 25% above the national average.
Plan for retention, not only attraction
Graduates are 53% of migrants. Career progression and pay are cited reasons for leaving, so clear growth paths matter.
Build youth and skills pipelines early
With 18.0% youth unemployment, expanded vocational training and a 100,000-job city target, trained entrants will be in demand.