By Kebba A.F. Touray
A new national Labour Force Survey has found that 733,364 Gambians are employed while 48,504 remain unemployed, reflecting improvements in employment and labour force participation, although informal employment continues to dominate the country’s labour market.
The findings were presented on Friday, 24 July 2026, during a national seminar organised by the Gambia Bureau of Statistics (GBoS) to disseminate the results of the First Quarter 2026 Labour Force Survey (GLFS) and review progress and trends in the labour market since the first quarter of 2023.
Presenting the report, the Statistician General of GBoS, Nyakassi Sanyang, said the survey provides a comprehensive picture of the country’s labour market and will serve as an important tool for policymakers and development partners.
The Labour Force Survey is a nationally representative household survey conducted using a two-stage stratified sampling design based on the 2024 Population and Housing Census.
A total of 260 Enumeration Areas were selected during the first stage, while 20 households were chosen from each area during the second stage. Data collection was undertaken by ten field teams using Computer-Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) technology.
Sanyang said the survey achieved a household response rate of 97.6 per cent, an adult individual response rate of 96.3 per cent, and a child response rate of 98.9 per cent, indicating a high level of data quality.
He added that rigorous weighting and post-stratification procedures were applied to ensure that the results accurately represent the national population as well as urban, rural and Local Government Area populations.
According to the survey, The Gambia’s working-age population, comprising persons aged 15 years and above, is estimated at 1,434,115.
Of that figure, 781,868 people make up the country’s labour force.
“The labour force stands at 781,868 persons, with 733,364 employed and 48,504 unemployed. Between GLFS 2023 (Q1) and GLFS 2026 (Q1), the labour force participation rate increased from 43.6 per cent to 54.5 per cent, an increase of 10.9 percentage points,” Sanyang said.
He noted that the employment-to-population ratio also increased from 40.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2023 to 51.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2026.
At the same time, the unemployment rate declined from 7.6 per cent to 6.2 per cent over the same period.
Despite these improvements, Sanyang said labour underutilisation remains a concern.
According to the survey, the LU3 indicator, which combines unemployment and the potential labour force, stood at 23.6 per cent in the first quarter of 2026.
The broader LU4 measure, which combines unemployment, time-related underemployment and the potential labour force, stood at 32.1 per cent.
Time-related underemployment affected approximately 81,725 people, representing 11.1 per cent of employed persons, while discouraged jobseekers accounted for 5.4 per cent of the working-age population.
The survey also shows that the services sector remains the country’s largest source of employment.
According to the findings, services account for 57.9 per cent of total employment.
Industry increased its contribution from 21.2 per cent in 2023 to 24.3 per cent in 2026, while agriculture now accounts for 17.8 per cent of employment.
Although employment levels have increased, the survey found that the overwhelming majority of workers remain in the informal economy.
Sanyang said 85.8 per cent of employed persons work in informal employment.
“The survey estimates that 85.8 per cent of employed persons are engaged in informal employment, meaning that fewer than one in seven workers holds a formal job,” he said.
According to the report, informal employment is highest in the construction sector, where it accounts for 98.1 per cent of employment.
Agriculture follows at 97.7 per cent, while accommodation and food services record 93.6 per cent, and wholesale and retail trade accounts for 91.5 per cent.
The survey also found differences between men and women and between rural and urban workers.
Women experience higher levels of informal employment than men, with 88.7 per cent of employed women working informally compared with 83.6 per cent of employed men.
Similarly, 91.2 per cent of rural workers are employed informally, compared with 83.1 per cent in urban areas.
For the first time, the Labour Force Survey also produced national estimates on employment-related income.
According to Sanyang, the average monthly employment-related income across all workers is D6,238, while the median monthly income is D3,000.
Employees earn an average monthly income of D9,455, compared with D4,609 for self-employed workers.
Public sector employees receive an average monthly income of D15,095, nearly twice the D7,942 earned by employees in the private sector.
The survey also found a significant income gap between formal and informal employment.
Formal sector workers earn an average monthly income of D12,753, while informal workers earn an average of D5,262.
The report highlights child labour as another area requiring continued attention.
Using The Gambia’s national child labour framework, the survey estimates that 108,087 children, representing 12.9 per cent of children aged between five and 17 years, are engaged in child labour.
Child labour becomes more common as children grow older, increasing from 12.3 per cent among those aged five to 15 years to 17.4 per cent among those aged 16 to 17 years.
The survey also found that child labour is considerably more prevalent in rural communities, where 19.5 per cent of children are engaged in child labour, compared with 7.9 per cent in urban areas.
Among the Local Government Areas, Kuntaur recorded the highest prevalence of child labour at 34.7 per cent, followed by Mansakonko at 22.6 per cent and Janjanbureh at 17.9 per cent.
The lowest prevalence was recorded in Kanifing, at 3.5 per cent, and Banjul, at 3.8 per cent.
Agriculture remains the largest sector employing children, accounting for 63.4 per cent of children aged five to 15 years engaged in child labour.
The survey also estimates that 9 per cent of children aged five to 17 years are engaged in hazardous work.
For international reporting under Sustainable Development Goal Indicator 8.7.1, child labour declined from 9 per cent in the first quarter of 2023 to 7.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2026.
The report also recorded improvements in labour market participation among persons with disabilities.
According to Sanyang, labour force participation among persons with disabilities increased from 20.1 per cent in 2025 to 27.4 per cent in 2026, while employment rose from 19.4 per cent to 26.5 per cent.
However, he noted that labour force participation among persons with disabilities remains substantially lower than among persons without disabilities, whose participation rate stands at 55 per cent.
The survey further found that international migrants account for 6 per cent of the country’s working-age population.
Compared with native-born Gambians, migrants have a higher labour force participation rate of 65 per cent, compared with 53.8 per cent, and a higher employment-to-population ratio of 63.8 per cent, compared with 50.3 per cent.
However, migrants are also more likely to work in the informal sector, with an informality rate of 90.1 per cent, compared with 85.5 per cent among native-born workers.
The survey estimates that 347,987 people, representing 24.3 per cent of the working-age population, were engaged in at least one type of own-use production activity during the first quarter of 2026, highlighting the continued importance of unpaid production in supporting household livelihoods.
While noting the progress reflected in the survey, Sanyang said significant challenges remain.
“Informal employment continues to account for a large share of total employment, labour market outcomes continue to vary across population groups and regions, many young people still face challenges in their transition from education to productive employment, and child labour remains an area requiring sustained attention,” he said.
He said the findings highlight the need for continued policy measures to promote productive employment, decent work and inclusive economic growth across the country.
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