April 17: Participation in Nepali labour market is decreasing, finds a new survey. According to the Household Survey 2071/72, conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), a total of 82.9 percent above 15 years were active in labour market in the FY 2070/71 which has decreased to 77.2 percent in the FY 2071/72. People who are employed and searching employment are considered to be involved in the labour market.

According to the latest population census, among the total Nepali population of 26,484,000, population above 15 years comprises 19,800,000. “Nearly 4 million population of the age group has left the country for employment which might be the reason of low participation in labour market,” says Dr Rudra Suwal, Deputy Director of Central Bureau of Statistics. “Migration from Rural to Urban area and immigration of manpower in foreign countries might be the reason of decreasing labour participation,” he opines, adding, “There is no compulsion to work in urban area as in rural area.” There is a lot of population living inactive life, survived on remittance send by their relatives working aboard. In the Nepal Labour Force Survey 2011, the participation rate was 83.4 percent.

The survey has shown that participation of male are more than female in labour market. In the last FY, 78.7 percent male and 75.9 percent females were active in labour market which was 83.8 percent and 79.7 percent in the previous FY. The survey also showed that the rural population is more involve in labour market than the urban population. In the last FY, 82.2 percent rural population and only 66.2 percent of urban population were involve in labour market while it was 87 percent and 65.2 percent in the previous FY.

The survey also showed that the number of unskilled and uneducated manpower is more than the skilled and educated manpower in the labour market. During the last FY, 82.8 percent uneducated and 74.5 percent educated manpower participated in labour market which was 85.6 percent and 81.2 percent respectively in previous FY.

Among the employed population, 69.5 percent are engaged in agriculture, forest and fisheries sectors (it was 68.8 percent in previous FY). After that, wholesale and retail business sector comes second (6.5 percent) and manufacturing comes third (5.9 percent). It was 7 percent and 6.3 percent respectively in previous FY. The total of 82.2 percent of first quintile (the poorest) and 66.8 percent of fifth quintile (the richest) are participating in the labour market. It was 87.5 percent and 70.6 percent respectively in the previous FY.