Labor market in Comoros

Labor-market statistics in Comoros require caution because informal work and underemployment are not fully captured by the unemployment rate. INSEED and ILO measures are more informative than a single headline figure: the 2021 EEIC found that about 88% of employed people worked informally, including about 82% outside agriculture. A modeled unemployment estimate of 3.8% for 2025 therefore does not describe the full shortage of secure and adequately paid work. Among young people, roughly half of young workers were without a job in the available evidence, only about 3% held formal employment, and the NEET rate for ages 15 to 24 was 21% in 2021. The formal public sector is a major source of recognized qualifications and relatively transparent pay, but it is increasingly saturated. The formal private sector remains small. Most livelihoods come through agriculture, fisheries, trade, services, small production units, informal family work or auto-emploi, meaning self-employment. Family and social networks often connect people with work more effectively than public placement services or digital platforms. The legal framework provides for a service de la main-d’œuvre, placement, employer registration, work cards, labor inspection and dispute settlement, but there is no reliable evidence of a nationwide central job-matching system. Services account for approximately 55% of GDP, agriculture about 26% and industry about 12% in 2024 estimates. Services grew by about 4.5%, agriculture by 3.5%, fisheries by 3.2% and industry by 3.8%; construction grew by about 8% from a low base. Fisheries generate about 31% of agricultural output but remain small-scale and constrained by weak cold-chain infrastructure. Tourism contributed about 1.7% of GDP in 2024 and remains an emerging field, although tourism supported around 21,400 direct and indirect jobs between 2015 and 2019. Agribusiness, the blue economy, tourism, fisheries, construction and digital or green activities are frequently identified as promising employment fields, but projected growth does not automatically create formal jobs. Work opportunities differ between Ngazidja or Grande Comore, Ndzuwani or Anjouan, and Mwali or Mohéli, as well as between urban and rural areas. In 2024, labor-force participation was about 55.0% in rural areas and 49.4% in urban areas. Ndzuwani and Mwali face higher poverty and therefore greater vulnerability, but current evidence does not support a reliable island-by-island ranking of sectors or wages. Moroni is plausibly the strongest center for formal administration and services, but available data do not justify treating it as a complete national job-market statistic. Qualifications do not always match available work. The Human Capital Index is about 0.40, secondary-school enrollment was estimated at 55% in 2024, and employers face shortages of technical, business and entrepreneurial skills. Public and private formation professionnelle is available through national or approved centers. Under Law 83-010, access generally begins at age 17 and can involve selection and guidance; a certificate follows a final examination. INP and INFP are linked to the ministry responsible for labor, employers contribute to vocational training, and CPS provides accident protection for trainees. Nationally comparable course fees, capacity figures and admission schedules are not consistently published. Apprentissage provides a practical training arrangement with an approved employer. It uses a written contract and requires a visa from the service de la main-d’œuvre or Inspection du travail. The contract should be submitted within 15 days after the start; the authority has up to 30 days to act, and silence is treated as approval under the stated rule. Training can last from six months to three years, normally combines practical work with possible theory, and provides for 40 hours per week and at least one rest day. Statutory apprentice pay is set at 25%, 35%, 50%, 75% and 100% of the SMIG by semester level. The SMIG itself is difficult to enforce because a valid national minimum-wage decree has not been evidenced. The Code du travail covers contracts, training, pay, working time, night work, leave, safety, social protection, foreign workers, unions, labor inspection, placement and labor courts. These protections apply most clearly to registered formal employment and cannot automatically be assumed for unregistered work. The SMIG is provided for in Article 106, but the ILO's recent observations state that it still had not been introduced by decree. Formal public salaries follow a pay and index system whose implementing rules were still developing, while informal earnings are volatile and often below the intended minimum-wage level. No current representative national wage table provides a reliable ranking of earnings by occupation or island. Women participate in the labor market at about 51% among those aged 25 and over according to 2024 evidence, below the sub-Saharan African comparison. Women are overrepresented in informal, agricultural and precarious work, and poorer women are more likely to remain inactive. Access to childcare, finance, transport, networks and secure workplaces can limit participation. Youth and women therefore benefit most from pathways that combine usable skills, recognized certification, safe working conditions and realistic access to finance rather than from training credentials alone. Migration strongly affects the labor market. About one third of Comorians live abroad, mainly in France. Remittances averaged around 17% of GDP from 2013 to 2023; in 2024, formally recorded inflows were about 19.5% of GDP and informal inflows about 5.4%. Transfers often support household spending, education and small businesses and can increase around grands mariages. They reduce pressure on domestic employment but do not replace structural job creation. Comoros has ratified ILO conventions including C97, C143, C102 and the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006. GDP growth was about 3.4% in 2024 and was estimated at 3.8% for 2025. Industry was projected to grow by about 5.3% in 2025, supported mainly by infrastructure, hotels, ports and roads linked partly to preparations for the 2027 Indian Ocean Island Games. Private investment, access to finance, connectivity, governance weaknesses and climate or cyclone risks still limit the conversion of growth into secure employment. The PIDC recorded 1,772 direct full-time jobs, with 44% held by women and 60% by young people, and reached 62,222 farmers; these are project results, not proof of a national employment trend.