Labor market in Mauritania

The labor market in Mauritania is fragmented. Extractive industries such as iron ore, gold, copper, oil and gas are central to economic growth, while fisheries, agriculture, livestock and urban services provide additional work. Urban services include many low-paid informal activities. Most workers are self-employed, and women are overrepresented in unpaid family work. Wage employment has grown only marginally, so diversification toward agriculture, services, digital activities, small and medium-sized enterprises and the green economy remains a stated priority. Nouakchott and Nouadhibou are major urban, service and mining poles. Rural areas in the south depend more heavily on agriculture and pastoral activities. Opportunities and labor-force participation differ considerably between wilayas and districts. A local example records male participation of about 72% in Tichit, while areas with fewer economic activities have lower participation. No complete nationwide subnational series was retrieved, so local figures should not be treated as a full regional ranking. Available statistics require careful comparison. The latest dedicated ENESI household survey is from 2017, while EPCV and the latest ILOSTAT household-survey reference are from 2019. Non-harmonized snapshots from the official employment portal report a population of 5.34 million, unemployment of 13.12%, labor-force participation of 49.2% for ages 14 to 64, a potential workforce of 319,116 and 1.27 million employed people. A separate dashboard reports 1.38 million active people, 1.42 million inactive people, employment of 36.2% and permanent private employment of 6.4%. These values use different definitions and cannot be combined as one current statistical series. World Bank indicators for 2022 report adult labor-force participation of 52.3%, including about 33% for women, and adult unemployment of 8%, with 12.3% for women and 5.8% for men. Technical and vocational training, apprenticeship and the National Employment Strategy for 2019 to 2030 address the skills gap. Reported project results include more than 50,000 participants receiving life-skills training or counselling, about 6,000 people entering technical training connected with internships or wage employment, and more than 18,000 micro-enterprises associated with six months of employment. These are project results, not a general national placement rate. The Direction Générale de l’Emploi within the Ministry of Youth Empowerment, Employment, Sports and Civic Service oversees employment policy. The emploi.gov.mr data portal, Techghil, jobs.mr and opendata.techghil support vacancy information, matching or integration. TACHQHIL is identified as the successor to ANAPEJ in the national employment-agency pathway. Public competitions use recrutements.gov.mr. Access to employment services is free under the Labour Code, the former public hiring monopoly has been abolished and regulated private placement is possible; a universal fee for private placement has not been verified. The Employment Observatory pilot covers four wilayas and 16 communes, so its information does not yet provide complete national coverage. The Labour Code of 2004, amended in 2022 and 2024, governs the formal private labor relationship. It covers inspection, collective bargaining and mediation. The normal maximum for non-agricultural work is 40 hours per week, and agricultural work has a separate 2,400-hour annual limit. Weekly rest must last at least 24 hours and normally falls on Friday. Public servants follow separate statutes. Informal workers receive more limited practical coverage from these formal protections. The SMIG is Mauritania’s statutory minimum wage. Equal pay is a principle in formal employment, but informal earnings are not standardized and women earn significantly less on average. Decree 2026-064, dated 23 April 2026, is the latest official SMIG reference identified in the research. Its amount and entry date were not machine-readable in the retrieved official text. Hourly figures of MRU 25.962 for a 40-hour week and MRU 24.612 for agricultural work belong to 2023 and should not be used as current rates without checking the latest decree. A foreign salaried worker needs a prior work permit. The online Rokhsa process includes categories B and C and requires an employer dossier. An employer with more than eight foreign workers needs an approved Mauritanisation plan. Categories A1 and A2 distinguish high-responsibility positions from rare profiles. The stated decision target is four weeks; if no decision arrives after 30 days, the territorial service should act within a further 10 days. The plan allows up to two days for execution or management positions and four days for senior management positions. Mining and energy expansion may create jobs, but its absorption of the wider workforce remains uncertain, which keeps youth, women, informal and self-employed workers, rural communities and people with low skills central to labor-market policy.