Unemployment in Mozambique

Unemployment in Mozambique covers a period without desired paid work and the search for income, support or a return to work. The national system has no identified direct equivalent to universal unemployment insurance or a standard cash allowance linked automatically to job loss. INSS provides contributory social security, but no unemployment allowance was evidenced. Public employment centres operated through MTGAS provide an administrative and job-search service. A person can register as a candidate for employment, usually called candidato a emprego, and seek vacancies or placement through the local centre. The process is not the same as claiming an unemployment benefit. A uniform national list of documents, registration fees or deadlines was not evidenced, and no general duty to register after losing work was identified. IFPELAC can provide a bridge through skills development, certification and placement, but it is not a separate unemployment benefit system. PASP is a temporary, means-tested social-support programme linked to INAS. It targets poor or vulnerable households with at least one working-age member through labour-intensive public works or direct support. Local targeting, household validation and a means assessment determine access. Job loss alone does not create eligibility. District budgets affect coverage, some provinces may have no active support, and payment amounts and programme duration vary by cycle and district. In 2024, PASP reached 55,056 households and 247,752 beneficiaries; 62.2% of the households were female-headed. PSSB may apply only where separate household-vulnerability and work-capacity conditions are met. Mozambique uses several unemployment concepts that cannot be compared as if they measured the same population. An alternative 2022 INE household-survey definition counted people aged 15 or older without work, available for work and in some situations without regular work, including occasional workers, own-account workers and unpaid family workers without regular work. It produced an unemployment rate of 18.4%, with 18.7% for men, 18.1% for women, 31.0% in urban areas and 12.1% in rural areas. The ILO-based measure produced 9.6%. The modelled youth unemployment comparator for 2022 was 7.5%. These figures are not interchangeable because the definitions and coverage differ. Administrative records show registered unemployment, or desemprego registado, rather than the whole labour market. The latest detailed MTGAS bulletin located for the third quarter of 2025 recorded 198,652 registered unemployed people: 144,823 men and 53,829 women. The records included 96,194 candidates for a first job and 102,458 seeking a new job. Nampula recorded the highest listed total at 39,700, followed by Tete with 27,255, Inhambane with 20,422 and Cabo Delgado with 19,402. New registrations numbered 3,768, down 5% from the previous quarter. Administrative stocks and flows are affected by limited registration coverage and are not a national survey rate. The MTGAS index lists 2026 bulletins, but newer detailed figures were not verified. A separate issue arises when unemployment follows termination. Under Lei do Trabalho 13/2023, effective from 21 February 2024, structural, technological or market-related termination requires written notice to the worker, the union or workers' representative and the labour ministry at least 30 days in advance. Missing notice can create a claim for notice pay. Compensation under Article 141 depends on sectoral minimum-wage multiples and length of service. An unlawful termination can lead to reinstatement or compensation, and the available guidance indicates a maximum six-month period to challenge it. Preserve the employment contract, termination notice, payslips and compensation evidence, and seek the labour authority, a union or legal advice when the employer's action is disputed. Because more than 80% of employment is informal and agriculture accounts for more than 70% of employment, public placement, informal work and self-employment may function as practical pathways back to income. Their protection and income stability differ from formal employment. After formal hiring, INSS registration and contribution records should be checked rather than assumed.