LEBANON – Labor Day is an occasion to reflect on the value of work and on who gets access to it. In Lebanon, the most recent national labor force data, collected in January 2022 by the Central Administration of Statistics (CAS) in partnership with the International Labour Organization (ILO), offers a detailed and often overlooked picture of that access. While Lebanon's unemployment rate of 29.6% is significantly high, it reveals only part of the issue, a closer look at labor underutilization adds a deeper layer.
Beyond Unemployment: What Underutilizations Measures
The unemployment rate captures people actively looking for work but unable to find it. Labor underutilization goes further, accounting also for those working fewer hours than they need (time-related underemployment) and those who are available for work but have stopped looking, known as the “potential” labor force.
This potential labor force includes people who are available and ready to work if conditions were better. The ILO’s indicator used for underutilization, labeled LU4, provides a holistic view of all these together. In Lebanon in 2022, LU4 stood at 50.1% — up from 16.2% in 2018–19. That means roughly one in two people within the labor force were not being put to good use. The numbers for women and youth are even more striking.
The Largest Gap: Women and Youth
In 2022, female participation in the labor force in Lebanon stood at 22.2%, compared to 66.2% for men, signaling a significant almost 40-point difference. Women unemployment was recorded at 32.7%, and the underutilization rate was 57.1%, nearly triple the rate in 2018–19.
Across non-GCC Arab states, the average sits at around 11.7%, the lowest globally. The ILO's Global Employment Trends for Youth 2024 notes that the Arab States have the largest gender gap in employment-to-population ratios of any world region, with young women nearly completely excluded from the youth labor force.
Among youth aged 15–24, nearly half are unemployed, with the LU4 rate reaching 64.2%, meaning nearly two in three young Lebanese are either out of work, underemployed, or no longer looking. According to the World Bank, the economic crisis in Lebanon accelerated brain drain, as educated youth and professionals left in search of better opportunities abroad, particularly in the fields of healthcare and education.
This creates a self-reinforcing cycle: a labor market that cannot absorb its young people pushes talent out, which in turn weakens the businesses, services, and investment that could generate new jobs. This creates a gradual loss of the human capital that Lebanon’s economy needs to recover.
What Can Be Done?
The International Labour Organization, in its Arab States Employment and Social Outlook 2024, highlights practical steps that have proven effective in similar contexts. These include expanding access to affordable childcare so more women can join and stay in the workforce, removing barriers that limit women’s access to formal jobs, and investing in programs that help young people transition from education into work. At the same time, broader economic policies can encourage growth in higher value-added sectors, where skills are better matched with opportunities.
In Lebanon, these priorities are closely linked to how the labor market functions today. Many young people are ready to work but struggle to find opportunities that match their skills. Many women are interested in participating more fully in the economy but face structural and social constraints. As a result, a significant share of the country’s potential workforce is not fully engaged.
Addressing this is not about a single policy change. It is about gradual, coordinated progress. Strengthening institutions, supporting both the public and private sectors, and maintaining investment in education, health, and social services all play a role in building a more inclusive and productive economy.
Lebanon’s labor challenge is not only about job creation. It is also about making better use of the people already willing and able to contribute. Moving in that direction offers a path toward more balanced and sustainable growth.
