Underemployment describes work that does not provide enough working time or adequate use of available labor. In Togo, the 2018 EHCVM recorded a 77% labor-force participation rate, 1.7% unemployment and about 60.5% underemployment. An ILO model estimate placed unemployment at 2.0% in 2025, but its method is not directly comparable with the 2018 survey. The low unemployment rate therefore does not show whether work is stable, productive or sufficient to support a household. In 2018, about 59% of workers were self-employed, 16% were employees, 19% were contributing family workers, 5% were trainees or apprentices and 1% were employers. Informal employment affected 91.2% of people aged 25 and older in 2022. Agriculture accounts for more than half of jobs in many inland regions, including roughly two thirds of employment in Savanes. Maritime and Greater Lomé have more commerce, services, logistics, port activity, telecommunications and formal private-sector wage work. Commerce accounts for about 48% of jobs in Lomé and 43% in other urban areas. Agriculture and agrifood value chains remain central in Plateaux, Centrale, Kara and Savanes. Informal businesses are concentrated in commerce, industry and services, with approximate shares of 40%, 34% and 26%. Access to education, infrastructure, security, markets and transport changes the opportunities available in each region. Togo's economy grew by 6.2% in 2023, 6.5% in 2024 and an estimated 6.3% in 2025. Construction, materials, extractive activities, agriculture, communication and commerce are major drivers. The Platform Industrial Adétikopé, the Port of Lomé and ZAAP agricultural zones are intended to raise productivity and create work. In 2024, the Platform Industrial Adétikopé had more than 15 industrial units and about 2,000 direct jobs, with a target of 7,000 by the end of 2025. Structural change remains gradual, and informality and low productivity continue to limit the number of stable formal jobs. Estimates indicate that about 200,000 new jobs per year would be needed from 2024, or about 1 million by 2030, to absorb new labor-market entrants; these are projections, not recorded job totals. Women and young people face weaker access to formal work. Women represent about 72% of informal business owners. In the available survey data, 39% of women and 17% of men had no schooling; the gap was about 41% versus 15% in rural and urban areas. Rural women were especially affected. Women's informal businesses had about 1.5 times lower productivity per worker, although women worked fewer reported hours on average, about 169 compared with 282 for men. Access to land, capital, customers and professional networks strongly affects these outcomes. Formal technical and vocational education and training, known as ETFP, offers qualifications such as CFA, CAP, BEP, BT and BAC. People can follow classroom training, apprenticeship in a company or workshop, alternance, or continuing training and skills improvement. METFPA and chambers of commerce support certification. Togo has public institutions including LETP, CRETFP, CET, CEAA and CFTP, while private ETFP providers require METFPA approval; the ministry lists 330 approved private institutions. FNAFPP supports training finance and INFPP supports trainers and further training. ANPE qualification programs are generally free and usually last one to six months, with a focus on occupations that have immediate or growing demand. Access and fees still depend on the program and institution. ANPE is Togo's public employment service. Through SIANPE, job seekers and companies can register, publish or find vacancies, manage CV information, receive career guidance, obtain labor-market and skills information, and be referred to vocational training or entrepreneurship support. Registration does not guarantee a placement. The AIDE practical-placement program is aimed at Togolese nationals aged 18 to 40 who are graduates or first-time job seekers, registered with SIANPE and immediately available. A placement lasts six months and may be extended once. Participating companies need compliant tax, CNSS and labor-inspection status. The private-sector minimum wage, called SMIG and SMAG in the available national rule, is 302.89 FCFA per hour or 52,500 FCFA per month from 1 January 2023. It applies nationwide to the private sector; piece-rate work reaching at least 160 hours per month must meet the SMIG level. Median monthly earnings recorded in 2018 were 45,000 FCFA in urban areas and 33,600 FCFA in rural areas, with lower medians in agriculture than in services. Informal and agricultural earnings often fall below the minimum-wage level. Formal employer contributions and other wage costs can also affect hiring. CNSS provides social-security coverage and AMU is universal health insurance. Salaried workers have an AMU contribution of 10% of contributory monthly pay, with at least half paid by the employer and the remainder by the worker. Self-employed, informal and agricultural workers can use the CNSS and AMU pathway for non-salaried workers, with simplified registration and contributions based on a professional category. Coverage requires a current contribution account and has a three-month waiting period; insurance coverage is not the same as formal employment. ANPE also has a professional-migration unit that connects international vacancies with Togolese workers through preselection, language and technical training, visa and consular information, departure assistance, support in the destination country and return or reintegration services. CNSS generally follows the territoriality principle, meaning registration is linked to the country where the work takes place, while bilateral or multilateral agreements can allow portability of insurance periods. Reliable current local data on labor-migration flows are not available. EHCVM and ERI-ESI figures mainly describe 2017-2018, recent macroeconomic figures cover 2024-2025, and ANPE records cover only registered users, not the whole labor market.
Labor market in Togo
Togo's labor market combines a very young workforce with widespread self-employment, informal work and underemployment. Agriculture provides about 38% of jobs and services about 49%, while commerce, construction, logistics, manufacturing, extractive activities, telecommunications, finance, education, health and public administration form major segments. Lomé and Greater Lomé concentrate formal private-sector jobs and matching services, while rural regions depend more on agriculture and agrifood activities. The main challenge is not only finding work: around 61% of workers were underemployed, often working fewer than 35 hours a week, while registered unemployment was low.
Tip
Treat Togo's labor market as a choice between earning through available informal or self-employed work and investing in skills, formal placement or mobility for better-matched opportunities. Compare actual hours, income, training value and social protection instead of judging an opportunity by its job title or by the low unemployment rate. Use ANPE, SIANPE and approved training providers to verify options before committing time, money or relocation.