Labor market in Eritrea

The government is the largest employer in Eritrea. The formal market includes public institutions, state-owned or PFDJ-linked companies, mining projects and a small private sector. Private investment remains limited by controls affecting capital, foreign currency, land and labor. Many people also work in small businesses, family shops and other informal activities. Informal employment was estimated at about 58% in the African Development Bank's 2026 outlook. More than 70% of the population lives in rural areas, where rain-fed and subsistence agriculture depends on rainfall and water availability. Drought can therefore reduce both productivity and household income. Urban areas offer more public services and formal institutions, while mining sites create specialized opportunities. Reliable current employment data by Zoba or city are not widely available. Agriculture remains the largest source of work. Industry accounts for less than 10% of employment in the available research. Mining includes gold, copper, zinc and potash projects and requires specialized workers, but its capital-intensive structure limits its broad employment effect. Services accounted for about 52.5% of GDP in an African Development Bank estimate for 2025. Construction, transport, trade, public administration, education, health care, tourism and hotels, and small-scale manufacturing also provide work. Eritrea has high labor-force participation and a World Bank human-capital estimate of 83.5% for 2022. The World Bank/ILO modeled unemployment estimate was about 5.6% for 2024, while the African Development Bank estimated youth unemployment at about 9.4%. These figures are modeled or estimated rather than the result of a fully reliable national labor survey, so they should not be treated as precise measurements or compared without checking their method and date. National Service is a central state-controlled channel for assigning work. Proclamation 82/1995 describes 18 months consisting of six months of military training and twelve months of service for people generally aged 18 to 40. In practice, international and human-rights reporting describes service that can continue indefinitely and include administration, teaching, medicine, construction, technical work, agriculture and mining. Release practices are inconsistent and may involve a petition. Taking private work without an authorized release can create practical risks. Formal civilian jobs are often obtained through direct contact with an employer or authority; personal networks and informal markets also play a major role. The Labour Proclamation defines a job seeker as a person who is able and willing to work and is at least 18 years old. A labor contract can begin at age 14, and a contract lasting more than one year should be written. Its contents include duration, start date, job, workplace, wage, payment method, and the parties' rights and duties. The Labour Proclamation No. 118/2001 covers private and state profit-making undertakings and projects, but excludes the military, police, security services, civil service, judges and prosecutors, and certain managers. The Labour Inspection Service and Labour Relations Board are among the relevant institutions. For covered workers, employers have duties concerning work and tools, dignity, occupational safety and health, medical examinations, training, registers and employment certificates. Statutory termination notice is seven days for service of less than one year, fourteen days for one to two years, and longer periods thereafter. Severance can apply independently of the reason for termination. No reliable general statutory minimum wage is documented in the available research, and no official nationwide unemployment-security system is identified. Domestic work remains largely unregulated, while wages in National Service are widely reported as very low and national wage statistics are unreliable. Collective bargaining exists for some qualified groups, but its reach is limited by National Service. The research identifies NCEW as the only legally recognized union. The Labour Relations Board has seven NCEW representatives, seven employer representatives and one government representative. The freedom to strike or protest is strongly restricted in practice. Eritrea has ratified eight fundamental ILO conventions, including those on forced labor, freedom of association, collective bargaining, equal pay, discrimination and child labor, but it has not ratified the conventions on employment policy, occupational safety and health, labor statistics or labor inspection. There is no reliably documented nationwide public job portal or labor-market information system with transparent deadlines, fees and placement rates. Job matching mainly runs through the state and National Service, direct employer contacts, personal networks and informal markets. Administration and technical occupations show recurring skills shortages, while mining projects obtain specialized workers partly through National Service assignments. Technical and vocational education and training, known as TVET, operates under the Ministry of Education. The documented 2018 network included nine formal TVET centers, the College of Marine and Aquatic Science and Hamelmalo Agricultural College. Basic programs last six to twelve months, intermediate programs two years, and advanced programs two to three years. Access, places and fees are not transparent, there is no national qualifications framework, and the connection between training and available work remains weak. Recent growth has been driven mainly by mining and services, while economic diversification and private-sector growth remain weak. Climate pressure on agriculture, skills upgrading through TVET, higher agricultural productivity and job-intensive manufacturing are central development challenges. Outward migration is strongly linked to indefinite National Service, low pay, restricted job choice and limited prospects for young and qualified people. Recruitment and work abroad, as well as departure from Eritrea, are restricted for many Eritreans, and migration can increase exposure to trafficking and forced-labor risks.