Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Context: The report, first introduced in 2017, is released by the National Statistics Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation. From 2025, the survey timeline has been changed from the agricultural year (July–June) to the calendar year (January–December), along with revisions in methodology. PLFS Report The Periodic Labour Force Survey is intended to measure key labour market indicators such as the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR), and Unemployment Rate (UR). These are calculated using both Usual Status (principal + subsidiary activity over a year) Current Weekly Status (CWS) (based on the last 7 days) Key Indicators LFPR: Proportion of people who are either employed or actively seeking/available for work within the population. WPR: Share of the population that is currently employed. UR: Percentage of unemployed individuals among those in the labour force. Activity Status Definitions Usual Status: Determined based on a reference period of the previous 365 days. CWS: Determined based on the previous 7 days before the survey. Major Findings of the Report LFPR For individuals aged 15 years and above, LFPR stood at 59.3%, with male participation at 79.1% and female participation at 40%. Among males, the main reason for not joining the labour force was continuing education (69.8%), while for females, household responsibilities such as childcare were the primary reason (44.4%). WPR The overall Worker Population Ratio for those aged 15+ was 57.4%, with 76.6% for males and 38.8% for females. UR The unemployment rate for persons aged 15 and above was 3.1%, with rural areas at 2.4% and urban areas at 4.8%. Self-Employment Trend The proportion of self-employed individuals has slightly decreased from 58.2% in 2023 to 56.2% in 2025. Sector-wise Employment Agriculture continues to employ the largest share of the workforce, although its proportion…
