Labor market in Ivory Coast

The labor market in Ivory Coast operates both formally and informally. Formal jobs arise mainly in companies, public and social services, finance, ICT, industry, energy, construction, logistics, and modern services. However, many people work without a written contract or reliable social protection. According to ENSE 2019, 91.2% of employment was informal; the share was 88.1% among men and 95.6% among women. The employment rate among the working-age population was 65.6% overall according to EHCVM 2022, 73.9% for men, and 58.1% for women. These figures show that labor-market conditions cannot be measured by unemployment alone. Abidjan brings together company headquarters, modern wage employment, services, and a large urban informal sector. Outside Abidjan, rural agricultural work, the raw-materials economy, and regional informal urban economies shape access to income. Typical informal activities include street trading, market sales, taxi and transport services, hairdressing, metalwork, repairs, and petty trade. According to World Bank estimates, the urban informal sector includes around 7 million workers; approximately two-thirds of informal businesses are run by women. A reliable, up-to-date nationwide distribution of wages and occupations by region has not been published. Key economic areas include agriculture, with cocoa, coffee, cashews, rubber, livestock, fisheries, and forestry; agro-industry and food processing; mining; oil and gas; manufacturing; energy and construction; as well as trade, transport, financial and insurance services, ICT, hotels, tourism, catering, and public services. In 2022, the primary sector grew by 5.9% in real terms, the secondary sector by 12.3%, and the tertiary sector by 3.7%; overall GDP grew by 6.4%. Economic growth does not automatically create the same number of formal jobs. Actual opportunities also depend on productivity, company size, location, qualifications, and access to capital. Qualifications are acquired through public and private technical and vocational education, lycées and centres, the vocational training agency (AGEFOP), apprenticeship (apprentissage), the Second Chance School (École de la 2ème Chance), and the validation of prior vocational experience. AGEFOP is the vocational training agency; recognition of prior vocational experience (VAE) refers to recognition of previously acquired professional experience. Many people also learn directly in workshops, family businesses, or companies. Access, duration, and certification differ according to the training pathway and occupation. Some programs last one or two years, begin depending on the program after CM2 or after 3ème, and are available to different extents across regions. The 2024–2025 directory recorded 691 institutions and 153,099 learners, including 72,018 girls, or 47.04%. The tertiary sector accounted for 67.14% of learners, while the industrial sector accounted for only 19.82% of female learners. Private institutions served 96,688 learners and public institutions 42,557. For employment placement, the youth employment agency (Agence Emploi Jeunes), abbreviated AEJ, is a central point of contact for young people. It offers registration, counseling, internships, recruitment, placement, training, and in some cases project financing through AGIR. Formal applications also proceed through job postings, companies’ direct recruitment procedures, or regulated private intermediaries. Informal work is often found through family, friends, direct approaches, and local networks. There is no documented nationwide record of all open positions. The National Employment and Training Observatory (Observatoire National de l’Emploi et de la Formation), abbreviated ONEF, provides public labor-market and training data. The Integrated Employment, Training and Skills System (Système Intégré de l’Emploi, de la Formation et des Compétences), abbreviated SIMT, has been intended since June 2026 to bring together data on employment, training, and skills, identify occupations with shortages and growing sectors, and reduce mismatches between training and demand. Its data governance is still being established. For private sectors, a statutory minimum wage (SMIG) of 75,000 CFA francs (FCFA) per month has applied since January 2023. In addition, sectoral or contractual minimum wages were increased by 9% to 18% in 2023 depending on the category. No reliable current average wage for all forms of employment is available. Informal incomes depend heavily on location, activity, season, and productivity. Formal employers report employees, entries, and departures to the National Social Security Fund (Caisse Nationale de Prévoyance Sociale), abbreviated CNPS. The employer pension contribution is 7.7% and the employee contribution is 6.3%. Employers also contribute 5% for family benefits, 0.75% for maternity, and 2% to 5% for workplace accidents and occupational diseases. Payment is made monthly when there are at least 20 employees and quarterly when there are fewer than 20 employees. Self-employed people are covered by the Social Scheme for Self-Employed Workers (Régime Social des Travailleurs Indépendants), abbreviated RSTI. The CNPS estimates that around 90% of workers have no social protection. Access to work depends on whether someone is seeking a formal job, training, an informal activity, or work abroad. Formal jobs often require a qualification or demonstrable skills and a selection process. Informal activities have fewer formal entry barriers, but often require capital, contacts, a suitable location, and practical experience. Women, poor households, and rural populations face additional disadvantages in accessing qualifications, capital, and stable incomes. Technical training, industry, construction, agro-processing, ICT, energy, and logistics are considered areas with growing demand for skills, while small and medium-sized enterprises are often constrained by limited access to capital and low survival rates. Ivory Coast has historically been a destination for labor migration and is also experiencing increasing emigration of young workers. Depending on the country of origin and destination, legal labor migration requires a valid contract, the necessary documents, and a regulated intermediary. The AEJ’s international placement service was established with nine pilot locations; by February 2025, 25 international placements had been reported. Informal recruitment, fees, dependency, exploitation, and the lack of portability of social rights remain risks. The national labor-migration policy was still being developed. A labor-market map and regional data are intended to make the differences between Abidjan, agricultural areas, and other economic locations more visible.