Unemployment in Eritrea

Eritrea's formal definition of a job seeker covers a person aged 18 or older who is able and willing to work. A job seeker can approach the employment services unit of the Ministry of Labour and Human Welfare (MoLHW), employment exchange offices, a private employment agency or an employer directly. The Eritrean Embassy has reported exchange services in six regions and urban centers. Registration appears to be an access pathway to employment services, not a general legal prerequisite under Article 5 of the reviewed labour rules. No verified current fee, appointment system, document list, online application method or office processing time was found. The reviewed evidence does not establish an operating unemployment insurance or unemployment cash-benefit scheme in Eritrea. Social-security branches officially listed in 2003 included the National Pension Scheme, Public Sector Pension Scheme and Martyrs' Survivors Benefit Scheme, but not unemployment benefits. Article 140(f) of Labour Proclamation 118/2001 authorizes the Minister to regulate unemployment insurance; the reviewed sources do not show a current claim procedure, payment amount, benefit duration or coverage. There is also no verified general duty to register, accept a particular job or report job-search activity. When unemployment follows a lawful termination, the applicable transition payments may be more relevant than a state benefit. Reduced work volume or new technology can support redundancy when no transfer option exists. Permanent closure, bankruptcy, natural disaster and war are listed as legitimate termination grounds. Notice periods are 7 days for service under one year, 14 days for one to two years, 21 days for more than two to five years and 30 days for more than five years. The employer may pay wages instead of allowing the notice period to run. Severance is calculated at two weeks of wages for each of the first five years, three weeks for each year from the sixth through the tenth year and four weeks for each year from the eleventh year onward. A worker with less than one year of service receives a proportionate amount based on two weeks of wages per year. The employer must provide a free certificate stating the type of work, length of service, relevant wages and, where applicable, the reason for leaving. The reviewed rules do not permit deprivation of these employment records and transition payments when the legal conditions are met. Labour disputes and termination claims have a one-year limitation period. A late filing may be accepted within 15 days after a force-majeure event ends. Employee labour-dispute claims and appeals are court-fee-exempt under the reviewed proclamation. Disputes can involve the Labour Relations Board or the First Instance Labour Court. Available data are limited. An ILOSTAT profile contains missing Eritrea data, and no reliable current national register or survey series for total unemployment was verified. An ILO-modelled estimate placed unemployment among people aged 15 to 24 at about 9.4% in 2024, while the African Development Bank identifies job and skills shortages as drivers. Historical employment-service figures reported 193,171 registered job seekers and 78,421 placements, with about 12,073 new entrants per year and a placement rate of approximately 41%; the reporting date is unspecified, so these figures are not a current performance measure. Re-entry usually runs through exchange offices, direct employers or private agencies. MoLHW directives also facilitate Eritrean nationals willing to work abroad, and historical reports state that 11,292 citizens were permitted to go abroad and about 807 Eritreans were sent abroad per year. This is a possible employment pathway, not an unemployment benefit or a placement guarantee. Formal services are most relevant to young job seekers and workers leaving formal employment; informal and rural workers may have less access to the documented system. Local differences in offices, costs and processing times remain unverified.