Iran's spring 1405 unemployment rate rises to 9.1% as employment falls by 450,000

The Statistical Center of Iran published the results of its spring 1405 labour force survey on Wednesday 29 July 2026. It found that 9.1% of the economically active population aged 15 and over was unemployed in the quarter, about 1.8 percentage points higher than in spring 1404. The economic participation rate came in at 40.7%, down 0.5 percentage points year on year.

The number of employed people aged 15 and over stood at 24,672,000 in spring 1405, roughly 450,000 fewer than a year earlier. Over the same period the economically inactive population rose to 39,535,000, an increase of about 796,000. The agency noted that the quarter coincided with the imposed war and its after-effects.

By sector, services accounted for the largest share of employment at 53.8%, followed by industry at 31.0% and agriculture at 15.1%. Youth unemployment among 15 to 24 year olds was 23.4% in spring 1405, up 3.7 percentage points from spring 1404. The agency added that nine provinces recorded a fall in their unemployment rate.