Cabo Verde’s unemployment rate fell to 7.5% in the first half of the year, corresponding to around 17,000 people, a decrease of 1.3 percentage points compared to the same period in 2024, the National Institute of Statistics (INE) announced on Tuesday (7).
According to Lusa, unemployment affected men and women equally, but was higher in urban areas (7.9%) than in rural areas (5.8%).
“The tertiary sector remains the largest employer,” noted INE, accounting for 68.9% of jobs among the 211,015 people employed.
The most common jobs are in commerce, car and motorcycle repair, followed by construction and hospitality and catering.
“The private business sector remains the largest employer in Cabo Verde, absorbing 45.6% of workers, followed by the self-employed (21.6%) and the public administration (18.6%),” added INE.
A person is considered employed if aged 15 or older and has performed at least one hour of economic activity during the reference week, either for pay or family benefit, in cash, goods, or kind.
A total of 98,069 workers were in the informal sector, representing 46.5% of the employed population.
This group includes unpaid family workers, employees without social benefits, and employers or self-employed workers operating informally.
By age group, unemployment was highest among young people aged 15–24 (14.9%), followed by 8.4% for ages 25–34, and 7.5% for both ages 35–64 and 65+.
The active population of Cabo Verde is estimated at 228,139 people, representing about 60.9% of the total population.
On islands with higher tourism activity, such as Sal and Boa Vista, this rate approaches 80%.
Source: Diário Económico
