Labor market in São Tomé and Príncipe

Employment in São Tomé and Príncipe is concentrated in subsistence-oriented agriculture, cocoa and coffee production, fisheries, informal trade, the public sector, tourism, transport and logistics, energy and water, telecommunications and banking. Industry accounted for 2.6% of value added in 2023. Tourism services generated 65% of service exports in the first three quarters of 2024, making tourism, agriculture, energy, digital activities and climate-resilient work potential areas for job growth. Around 92% of companies are micro or small businesses; industry represents about 10% of companies and 6% of jobs. Informal work is a central part of the labor market. Many workers earn income through low-productivity self-employment, small trade, agriculture or fisheries rather than through a formal employment contract. Working poverty affected about 51% of informal workers compared with 35% of formal workers. The formal system includes labor contracts, social insurance and public regulation, but there is no automatic job placement or job guarantee. Employment is geographically concentrated. Água Grande accounted for 41.4% of employed people in the 2012 census and Mé-Zochi for 23.7%, together representing 65.1% of employment. The same census reported net employment rates of 66.6% in Príncipe, 56.9% in Caué, 56.5% in Lembá, 55.7% in Água Grande, 51.7% in Mé-Zochi, 50.6% in Lobata and 50.1% in Cantagalo. These are older comparable district figures rather than current annual series. Príncipe is an autonomous region with its own Delegação Regional, while distance and travel costs make training and formal opportunities harder to access outside the main concentration around São Tomé. Qualification levels remain low among employed people. In the 2012 census, 64.4% of employed people aged 15 and above had no schooling, 24.2% had primary education, 10.7% had secondary education and 0.4% had intermediate or higher education. The share without schooling was 74.2% among women and 58.1% among men. About 86% of workers had no prior field-specific qualification. Technical skills, communication and interpersonal skills, foreign languages and digital skills are recurring gaps. Technical and vocational education and training reached about 6% of young people, while tertiary education reached about 13%. Training is available through institutions such as CFP-STP, the Centro Politécnico Brasil-STP, the Escola de Hotelaria e Turismo, CATAP and USTP, but provision is concentrated near São Tomé. The Direcção do Trabalho, Emprego e Formação Profissional, known as DTEFP, and CFP-STP provide formal labor-market and training functions. The PE-STP digital employability platform allows jobseekers and organizations to register. School-to-work transitions, career guidance and placement services remain underfunded and underused. Self-employment and entrepreneurship are significant alternatives, although access to capital and reliable market data is limited; REINA has operated since 2022. São Tomé and Príncipe has a national salário mínimo that applies by law to all employees, including rural workers. Its calculation considers food, housing, clothing, education, hygiene and transport, and the amount is periodically adjusted for inflation through a joint labor and finance decree. A reliable current nationwide private-sector wage series and a confirmed universal private wage amount were not available in the research. Public-sector pay floors should not be treated as the same measure as the private-sector minimum wage. Income and wage data remain fragmented. The Código do Trabalho, Lei 6/2019, provides for equal treatment, protection against discrimination and harassment, equal pay, trade-union membership and collective agreements. Regular working time is generally limited to 8 hours per day and 40 hours per week, with weekly rest usually on Sunday. Overtime is legally limited and requires compensation or another legally recognized arrangement. The Instituto Nacional de Segurança Social, or INSS, contribution rules apply when a worker performs at least 15 days in a month or earns at least the salário mínimo contributivo, the contributory minimum-salary threshold. Employers generally declare and pay contributions by the tenth day of the following month. São Tomé and Príncipe ratified ILO Conventions 102, 158 and 187 on 7 June 2024; they entered into force on 7 June 2025. The labor market also reflects economic and demographic change. Real GDP growth was 1.1% in 2024, while the 2023 energy crisis, limited infrastructure, restricted digital access and the small domestic market continue to limit demand and productivity. Ten state-owned enterprises accounted for about 9% of formal employment; the public sector represented about 14% of employment, with approximately 2,070 employees in the cited data. Core state-owned companies include EMAE, ENAPORT, ENASA and Correios. The 2025 Youth Employment Opportunities Project planned to create or improve 6,000 to 8,000 youth jobs, with at least 50% intended for women; this is a plan target, not a measured result. Migration is another major labor-market factor. About 40,000 people, or 18% of residents, lived abroad in 2021, with Portugal the main destination. Emigration reduces domestic demand for some skills, while remittances reached 9.7% of GDP in 2024. Transfer channels remain costly or limited, and informal channels are used. The diaspora has economic potential that is still only partly used. The main public bodies responsible for labor, training, inspection and social insurance include MTSSS, DTEFP, CFP-STP, the Inspecção-Geral do Trabalho, INSS, INE, MEF, MECCES, MAPDR and the regional authorities.