BEIRUT (ILO News) - Lebanon’s Central Administration of Statistics (CAS) and the International Labour Organization (ILO) have released the findings of a new Lebanon labour force survey that presents up-to-date data relating to Lebanon’s current work force.

The results of the survey were released at an event held under the auspices of the Deputy Prime Minister of Lebanon, Dr. Saade Chami, at the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS) offices in Beirut, by Director-General of the CAS, Dr. Maral Tutelian, and ILO Regional Director for Arab States, Dr. Ruba Jaradat.

The Lebanon Follow-up Labour Force Survey provides an assessment of the changes in the employment situation in Lebanon in light of the recent financial and economic crisis facing the country as well as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The survey provides up-to-date, nationally representative statistics on selected key labour market indicators, with analysis of the findings comparing the new data to that previously captured under the 2018-19 Labour Force and Households Living Conditions Survey.

CAS conducted the Follow-up Labour Force Survey in January 2022, with technical and financial support by the ILO Regional Office for Arab States. It was the first ever household-based telephone survey conducted by CAS.

CAS Director-General, Dr. Maral Tutelian, presented the main findings of the survey at the event.

"This survey was conducted with the aim of calculating updated estimates at the national and governorate levels, covering a wide range of labour market indicators and other characteristics of residents in light of the difficult and challenging socio-economic situation in Lebanon,” Dr. Tutelian said.

"We hope that these results will help in setting the necessary policies to overcome the difficult situation the country is going through," Dr. Tutelian continued.

ILO Regional Director Dr. Jaradat said the labour market indicators covered by the survey “are crucial for informing targeted policy-making and building the labour market information systems that are instrumental to human development planning.”

Dr. Jaradat added: “On of the most important findings of the survey is that labour underutilization recorded a dramatic increase, from 16.2% in 2018-2019 to 50.1% in January 2022. The highest degree of labour underutilization was among the youth population (15-24 years old) for whom it currently stands at 64.7% in comparison to 29.4% in 2018-2019.”

“The new labour force data will feed directly into the diagnostic analytical work that the ILO has been undertaking to support the government and its social partners in developing Lebanon’s first National Employment Strategy. Such a Strategy will play a critical role in building back a stronger, more inclusive and more resilient labour market, alongside the reforms urgently needed to pull the country out of its economic crisis,” Dr. Jaradat explained.

Main findings

The Follow-up Survey, with an effective sample size of 5,444 households, presents estimates by geographical distribution, disaggregated by governorate level accross Lebanon’s eight governorates (Beirut, Mount Lebanon, North Lebanon, Akkar, Bekaa, Baalbek-Hermel, South Lebanon, and Nabatieh)”.

It was conducted in line with the latest international standards adopted by the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians.

The survey found that the national labour force participation rate (LFPR) – or the percentage of people who are active in the labour market, be they employed or unemployed - has declined by more than five percentage points from 48.8% in 2018-2019 to 43.4% in January 2022. More men are active in the labour market than women, with the male LFPR standing at 66.2% in comparison to 22.2% for females.

The employment-to-population ratio – or the measure of the labour force currently employed against the total working-age population – is often used as an indicator of the performance of the national economy in providing employment to its population. In Lebanon, it stood at 30.6% in January 2022, decreasing by more than ten percentage points from 43.3% in 2018-2019, the survey found. The ratio is higher for men (47.4%) than for women (15%), and lower for youth (17.9%) than for adults (34.2%).

According to the survey results, Lebanon’s unemployment rate increased from 11.4% in 2018-2019 to 29.6% in January 2022, indicating that almost one-third of the active labour force was unemployed in January 2022. More women than men are unemployed, with the female unemployment rate standing at 32.7% in comparison to the male rate (28.4%), while the youth rate (47.8%) is almost twice the adult rate (25.6%).

According to the survey results, informal employment – employment that is not covered or is insufficiently covered by formal arrangements and protections - now accounts for over 60%of total employment in Lebanon.

The Follow-up Survey also found that about half of the labour force and the potential labour force in Lebanon was underutilized in some form or the other in January 2022. Labour underutilization can refer to unemployment as well as to underemployment – where persons are available to work more hours than they do – and to the potential labour force of those who are available for employment but are not seeking it or those who are seeking employment but are not immediately available to undertake it.

The survey found that labour underutilization recorded a dramatic increase, from 16.2% in 2018-2019 to 50.1% in January 2022. The highest degree of labour underutilization was among the youth population (15-24 years old) for whom it currently stands at 64.7% in comparison to 29.4% in 2018-2019, and among women for whom it currently stands at 47.6% in comparison to 21.3% in 2018-2019.

A summary of the survey findings can be viewed on the CAS website www.cas.gov.lb, as well as through the link to the right of this page. The full report will be made available on the CAS and ILO websites in June 2022.