Labor market in Zambia

The labour market describes how people offer their work and how companies, public institutions, households and other organisations demand it. Zambia has no single labour-market institution. The Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS), the Zambia Statistics Agency, TEVETA, the Ministry of Technology and Science, and Immigration perform different functions for labour data, skills, job matching, training, employment protection and work authorisation. The 2024 Labour Force Survey recorded 3,972,883 employed people and 587,876 unemployed people. The labour-force participation rate was 38.0%, with 46.1% for men and 30.1% for women. The employment-to-population ratio was 33.1%. The unemployment rate was 12.9%, which shows pressure on available jobs but does not describe the whole labour market. Formal employment represented 28.8% of employment and informal employment 71.2%. Informality was higher among women at 75.5% than among men at 68.5%, and higher in rural areas at 87.8% than in urban areas at 59.3%. Zambia’s work is commonly grouped into three parts: formal registered enterprises, informal unregistered enterprises, and household work. Formal jobs are more likely to have written contracts, clearer wage records and access to employment protections, although the exact rights depend on the contract and applicable law. Informal workers often work for themselves, in family activities or in small unregistered businesses. They may have less reliable income, weaker social protection and fewer practical ways to enforce labour rights. Non-agricultural activities accounted for 72.0% of employment and agriculture for 28.0%. The largest activity groups were agriculture, forestry and fishing at 28.0%, wholesale and retail trade and vehicle repair at 23.9%, manufacturing at 7.6%, education at 6.7%, public administration, defence and social security at 5.9%, household employers at 5.0%, construction at 4.7%, transport and storage at 4.7%, and mining and quarrying at 2.3%. Young people aged 19 to 34 accounted for 1,793,983 employed people; their largest areas of work were agriculture at 29.5% and wholesale and retail at 24.6%, while 65.6% of their employment was informal. Opportunities are concentrated unevenly across the ten provinces. Lusaka accounted for 25.7% of the labour force, Copperbelt for 18.6% and Central for 13.4%. Labour-force participation was highest in Lusaka at 58.7% and lowest in Northern at 19.6%. The employment-to-population ratio ranged from 54.5% in Lusaka to 18.1% in Northern. Western had the highest unemployment rate at 24.5%, while Central had the lowest at 5.8%. Formal and household employment are concentrated more heavily in urban areas, whereas informal employment dominates rural areas. Skilled agriculture, forestry and fishery work is particularly rural, with 84.8% of such workers located in rural areas. Education affects access to different parts of the labour market. Among employed people, 50.6% had Grade 8 to 12 education, 30.9% had Grade 1 to 7, 13.7% held a certificate or diploma, 3.8% held a bachelor’s degree and 0.8% held a master’s degree or higher. TEVET, meaning technical, entrepreneurial and vocational education and training, provides a practical alternative or complement to an academic path. Zambia also uses apprenticeships, work-based learning, trade testing, recognition of prior learning and formal, non-formal and informal learning. TEVETA regulates institutions, curricula, apprenticeships and assessment. In the Zambian Qualifications Framework, TEVET progression commonly moves from trade-test level around Level 3 towards diploma-level training around Level 6, depending on the programme and qualification. Training access depends on the institution, programme and entry qualification. Bursary access can depend on Zambian citizenship, a National Registration Card, social-welfare assessment and programme-specific age rules. Fees vary by institution and programme. Possible support can include a bursary, the TEVET Fund or Constituency Development Fund support, but none automatically guarantees a job. Skills supply is concentrated at lower TEVET levels, and the resulting mismatch between available skills and employer demand remains a major labour-market constraint. Average monthly earnings were ZMW 6,467 in 2024, with ZMW 6,600 for men, ZMW 6,188 for women, ZMW 7,282 in urban areas and ZMW 4,617 in rural areas. Among all workers, 55.2% earned up to ZMW 2,700 per month; the share was 81.0% in informal work and 24.9% in formal work. At least ZMW 7,501 was earned by 16.6% of all workers, 2.9% of informal workers and 32.8% of formal workers. The highest shares above ZMW 7,501 appeared in mining at 47.8%, education at 44.4%, health and social work at 43.0%, professional, scientific and technical activities at 35.4%, and finance and insurance at 31.6%. Managers and professionals also had comparatively high shares in that earnings band. These figures should be compared carefully because wage evidence mainly covers paid work and does not represent all informal income. The legal wage floor is governed by the Employment Code Minimum Wages Orders SI 48, 49 and 50 of 2023, effective from 1 January 2024. The applicable category and sector matter, and exemptions include some civil-service and local-authority workers, domestic workers, management employees and workers covered by collective bargaining. A wage comparison therefore requires checking the worker’s category, sector, contract and exemption status rather than applying one figure to every job. Job matching is available through the MLSS Labour Department, its Public Employment Exchange, placement services for skilled and unskilled work, career counselling and provincial or district offices. Public employment services reached 54 of Zambia’s 116 districts in the cited research. ZELMIS, the Zambia Employment and Labour Market Information System, uses the Government Service Bus to provide 29 digitised MLSS services and remote access. The Labour Market Information System launched in 2025 adds information on skills supply and demand, job trends, career paths and mining skills strategy. Private employment agencies need a permit from the Labour Commissioner, renewed annually; unlicensed recruitment is illegal. The MLSS states that prospective employees should not be charged a service fee, while an MLSS FAQ refers to a registration fee of up to 500 fee units and a 50% refund after three months without placement. Because these sources conflict, the current fee should be verified with MLSS before payment. No standard placement period or guaranteed job applies. The Employment Code Act 2019 covers contracts, employment entitlements, wage protection, non-discrimination including nationality, equal pay for work of equal value, employment-agency regulation and protections for children and young workers. Non-unionised contracts and contracts outside collective bargaining are submitted for MLSS attestation. Employer registration applies at the stated threshold of 25 employees. Workers need to comply with contract and permit conditions and provide reliable evidence of skills or qualifications. Work without a contract, unsafe conditions, low pay, unlicensed recruiters and limited social protection create particular risks in informal employment. Zambia is both a country of origin and destination for labour migration. In 2022, 78,009 international migrants were recorded, including 36,309 people in the labour force and 5,251 seeking employment. Among employed migrants, 13.3% were in formal employment and 86.7% in informal employment. Major origin groups included people from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola and India. The National Migration Policy 2022 and National Labour Migration Strategy 2024–2028 guide migration governance. Foreign workers generally need the appropriate work authorisation through Immigration. Zambianisation gives citizens priority where they are suitably qualified, with the Skills Advisory Committee involved in relevant decisions. Labour law protects formal migrant workers and provides equal-treatment principles, but recruitment abuse, exploitation, discrimination, weak data, limited social-security portability and brain drain remain practical concerns. The labour market is changing. Labour-force participation rose from 35.0% in 2020 to 38.0% in 2024, while unemployment declined from 13.8% to 12.9% over that period; quarterly unemployment in 2024 ranged from 14.8% to 13.4%. Youth pressure remains high: unemployment among people aged 15 to 24 was 29.1%, unemployment among those aged 19 to 34 was 18.4%, and 39.5% of people aged 15 to 24 were not in employment, education or training. Demand is developing around mining and copper, agriculture, energy and renewable energy, manufacturing, construction, tourism and information technology. Copper production rose by 12% in 2024, increasing demand for related skills. Drought and climate pressures raise the value of climate-smart and green skills, while the AI Strategy 2024 and National Digital Transformation Strategy 2023 increase demand for digital competencies. Transition costs and timing vary, and training or job-search services do not automatically lead to employment.