Kosovo had 11,006 fewer employed people in 2024 compared to 2023. Thus, within one year, 11,000 jobs were lost. This is according to the Labor Force Survey by the Kosovo Agency of Statistics for the year 2024, published on May 22 of this year. During 2023, there were a total of 425,499 employed individuals, while this number decreased to 414,493 in 2024. Broken down by gender, there are 3,850 fewer employed women than in 2023, and 7,256 fewer employed men.
Kosovo also experienced a significant decline in the number of active persons (working-age individuals who are either employed or registered as active job seekers), with 464,567 in 2024 compared to a total of 477,350 in 2023. This means 12,783 fewer active persons than in 2023. The largest decline occurs in the category of inactive persons. There, the number for 2024 is smaller by as many as 84,276 compared to 2023. Inactive persons are citizens of the Republic of Kosovo who are of working age (15-64 years old) but are not active in the labor market. They are neither employed nor registered as active job seekers. The number of these persons is extremely high. For 2024, the percentage of inactive persons was 56.8%. Kosovo, together with Bosnia and Herzegovina, are the only two countries in the region where the inactive population exceeds the active one. For comparison, in the first quarter of this year (2025), Albania had an inactive population percentage of 23.3%.
This high inactivity in the labor market can be partly explained by informal employment and the informal economy in general. Despite this (which, according to some previous estimates, is around 30%), the inactivity rate remains very high. Meanwhile, the Government has repeatedly declared that during its four years in office it has succeeded in formalizing the economy. In that case, informality should have decreased. However, inactivity is not decreasing.
The percentage of the inactive population becomes even more alarming when broken down by gender and age. A total of 398,288 women were out of the labor market in 2024, compared to only 114,410 employed women. This is a major historical problem in the labor market and is one of the most important indicators of gender inequality in our country. Unfortunately, no government has taken this issue seriously. Recent measures undertaken by the Government, with a special focus on increasing women’s employment and addressing this problem, still do not seem to yield the desired results. Not only is the number of employed women lower than last year, but it is also seen that, when compared in percentages, the employment growth rate for men during the year was 2.5%, compared to a much smaller increase of 1.4% for women. Although it sounds like an anomaly — that in 2024 there are fewer employed people in absolute terms but still a positive percentage growth in employment — this results from the way the employment and unemployment rates are calculated. The employment rate represents the proportion of employed persons compared to the active labor force. Since there is a significant decline in the active labor force, the employment percentage rises even when the total number of employed persons decreases.
Despite the overall decrease in unemployment at the national level, youth (aged 15-24) have experienced an increase in unemployment compared to 2023. A total of 19.5% of young people were unemployed in 2024, compared to 17.3% in 2023. Furthermore, when breaking down this unemployment by gender, it results that 24.7% of unemployed youth are women, compared to 16.7% who are men.
Another data point that requires attention is the percentage of unstable employment within total employment. It is estimated that 14.5% of total employment is unstable employment. In absolute terms, this means that just over 60,000 jobs are considered unstable employment.
However, the most alarming data in this survey remains the significant decline in the number of both inactive and active persons. The total number of inactive persons in 2024 is 84,276 fewer than in the previous year. This figure requires further explanation. Together with 12,783 fewer active persons than in 2023, this amounts to a total decrease of 97,059 people in Kosovo’s labor force. This is an extremely high number to lose within one year.
The decline in the labor force by nearly 100,000 people in one year cannot be ignored, downplayed, or concealed behind differently calculated percentages.
This requires a clear explanation from the relevant institutions:
- What are the reasons for this massive decline?
- What concrete measures are being taken to reintegrate citizens into the labor market?
- Where is the promised progress in formalizing the economy and increasing employment?
- Why do women and young people continue to remain outside the labor market?
We demand accountability, transparency, and concrete action, not fabricated narratives of imaginary success.