Ethiopia KILM

Labour force participation rate KILM 1
Lower participation rates of women may reflect one or two factors: first, bias in data collection that
do not count own-account workers and contributing family members as economically active; or
second, at the prime working-age (25-54), women tend to leave the labour market to give birth and
raise children, returning – but at a lower rate – to economically active life when the children are
older.
As it can be observed from figure 3 below, labour force participation rates are higher in rural (77.7%)
areas as compared with that of urban areas (61%). This is because in rural areas most people are selfemployed
on their own farms or engaged in agriculture-allied activities than those in the urban areas.
Figure 3: Labour Force participation rates by areas of residence
Source: MoLSA, Labour Market Information Bulletin, June 2011.
Table 2 below shows that the highest labour force participation rates were recorded in Gambella
(80.7%), followed by Benishangul (79.9%), Oromia (77.9%) and Amhara (74.4%) regions. The lowest
rates were observed in Somali (61.6 per cent), Afar (66.5 %) and Dire Dawa (66.5%).
Table 2: Labour force participation Rate by Region and sex
Sex
Region
M F M+F
Tigray 79.1 63.2 70.8
Afar 75.2 55.8 66.5
Amhara 82.3 67.2 74.4
Oromia 84.7 71.1 77.9
Somali 66.4 55.8 61.6
Benishangul Gumuz 84.5 75.3 79.9
SNNP 82.4 67.8 74.9
Gambella 85.2 75.9 80.7
Harari 78.9 60.6 69.7
Addis Ababa 78.1 61.0 69.2
Dire Dawa 73.9 59.1 66.5
SEA* 76.1 55.4 66.8
Source: MoLSA, Labour Market Information Bulletin, June 2011.
*SEA= Special Enumeration Area
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