Africa-Press – Cape verde. In 2024, the Unemployment Rate was 8.0%, 2.3 p.p. lower.
According to the IBGE, the unemployed population registered a decrease of 20.5% compared to 2023, falling from 21,853 to 17,373 individuals. This reduction is reflected in a 2.3 percentage point decrease in the unemployment rate, which in the previous year was 10.3%.
At the same time, the labor underutilization rate — which includes unemployed, underemployed and inactive people available to work — fell from 33.6% to 28.4%, which corresponds to a drop of 5.2 percentage points. In absolute terms, the population in this condition fell from 84,842 to 71,583 people, 15.6% less in one year.
The labor market showed improvements in other indicators. The employed population increased by 4.4%, reaching 198,914 individuals, 8,453 more than in 2023. The occupancy rate also rose, from 51.8% to 53.6%.
According to the IBGE, this growth is driven, in large part, by the greater participation of women: 5,144 more became part of the active population, which totaled 97,562 women and 118,752 men in 2024. However, the male employment rate (59.5%) continues to exceed the female rate (47.8%).
The age groups with the greatest integration into the labor market were 25 to 34 years old (69.6%) and 35 to 64 years old (70.1%). Young people between 15 and 24 years old continue to face greater difficulties in integration, with an employment rate of just 25.4%.
Among the country’s municipalities, Sal and Boa Vista stand out with the highest activity rates (78.6% and 77.2%) and employment rates (75.4% and 73.9%), well above the national average. In contrast, São Miguel (31.3%) and São Lourenço dos Órgãos (38.8%), on the island of Santiago, recorded the lowest levels of activity.
As for unemployment, the municipalities with the highest rates were São Domingos (16.3%), Santa Cruz (13.3%) and São Lourenço dos Órgãos (12.2%).
The report indicates that 47.5% of the employed population works in the informal sector, without a formal contract, social protection or labor guarantees. This group corresponds to 94,561 people, the majority of whom are employed (58.0%) and self-employed (34.9%).
Informality is more prevalent among men, who represent 59.6% of informal workers, while women make up 40.4%.
The employment structure by sector remains the same: the tertiary sector absorbs the majority of the workforce (139,071 people, equivalent to 69.9%), followed by the secondary (22.5%) and primary (7.6%) sectors.
The main sectors of activity continue to be trade and repairs (16.4%), construction (12.3%), accommodation and food (10.0%) and public administration (9.8%). Regarding the distribution by type of employer, the private sector leads with 47.0% of jobs, followed by self-employment (19.8%) and Public Administration (18.0%).
In 2024, 18,402 people were underemployed — that is, they worked less than 35 hours in the reference week and were available to work more. The underemployment rate fell to 9.3%, 2.5 percentage points lower than the previous year.
Underemployment is more common in rural areas, where it reaches a rate of 12.9%, while in urban areas it is 8.4%. Women continue to be more affected, with an underemployment rate of 10.1% compared to 8.5% for men.
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