The unemployment rate in Bosnia and Herzegovina stood at 13.5% in the first quarter of this year, according to the results of the Labor Force Survey.

From January to March, the Bosnian workforce consisted of 1.393 million people, of which 1.205 million (86.6%) were employed and 187,000 (13.4%) were unemployed.

Compared to the previous quarter, the number of employed persons decreased by 1.3%, while the number of unemployed persons increased by 5.9%. The number of people outside the labor force in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the first quarter was 1.483 million, an increase of 0.2% from the previous quarter, according to the data from the Bosnia and Herzegovina Agency for Statistics.

In the first quarter of this year, the activity rate was 48.4%, the employment rate was 41.9%, and the inactivity rate was 51.6%.

During this period, 66.4% of the total workforce belonged to the age group of 25 to 49 years, followed by 26.3% in the 50 to 64 age group, 5.8% in the 15 to 24 age group, and 1.5% aged 65 and over.

Among the unemployed, 68.3% were in the 25 to 49 age group, 19.4% in the 50 to 64 age group, 11.8% in the 15 to 24 age group, and 0.6% aged 65 and over.

The structure of employed persons by industry shows that the largest share of employment was in the service sector (60.3%), followed by industry and construction (32.8%), and agriculture, forestry, and fishing (6.8%).

The Labor Force Survey in Bosnia and Herzegovina is conducted continuously according to a redesigned methodology aligned with the new Regulation of the European Parliament and Council, which came into force on January 1, 2021. The survey for the first quarter of this year included a sample of 10,727 households.