Labor market in Senegal

The local marché du travail includes formal employment, informal work, self-employment, family work and job seeking. In 2023, 49.6% of employment was classified as informal, while the public sector represented 33.0% and the private sector 17.1%. Salaried work accounted for 16.1% of workers, including 12.1% in permanent positions and 4.0% in temporary positions. These figures make the distinction between having work and holding a formal employee position essential. Services employed 50.0% of workers in 2023, agriculture 33.8% and industry 16.2%. Within agriculture, farming represented 78.2%, livestock 14.7%, fishing and aquaculture 6.3% and forestry 0.8%. Within industry, other manufacturing represented 37.9%, construction 28.0%, extractive activities 16.3% and agro-food 11.8%. Dakar had the highest employment rate at 45.0%, followed by Thiès at 36.7%, and also concentrates formal employers and job-matching services. Rural areas remain more closely linked to agriculture. In the first quarter of 2026, the activity rate was 56.5% among people aged 15 and over. It was 64.2% for men and 49.3% for women, and 58.1% in urban areas compared with 54.1% in rural areas. The employment rate was 40.2%, down 0.2 percentage points from the first quarter of 2025. Unemployment indicators describe market pressure rather than a separate subject here: the expanded rate was 22.9%, while the strict ILO rate was 5.1%; the expanded rate reached 32.0% in rural areas, 17.4% in urban areas, 28.4% among young people and 16.8% among adults. Formal demand changed unevenly. In the fourth quarter of 2025, modern-sector salaried employment excluding public administration reached 341,945 positions, up 2.7% year on year. Industry grew by 11.0%, commerce by 2.3%, construction fell by 8.1% and services fell by 0.2%. In 2024, DGTSS recorded 1,928 newly opened establishments creating 10,386 jobs, while 155 closures resulted in 880 lost jobs. It also reviewed 77,870 contracts, including 61.98% fixed-term contracts, 23.42% permanent contracts, 5.14% seasonal contracts, 4.41% internships, 3.51% temporary contracts and 1.54% apprenticeships. Men accounted for 72.54% of these contracts and women 27.46%. The statutory minimum wage was 370.526 FCFA per hour for non-agricultural work at 40 hours per week, with effect from 1 July 2023. The agricultural minimum wage was 236.865 FCFA per hour; 2025 agricultural monthly minimums ranged from 61,585 to 88,527 FCFA for 208 hours, depending on the category. Sectoral agreements and applicable classifications can change the amount. A payslip, working-time rules, safety duties and social protection are part of formal employment, with inspection by DGTSS and regional ITSS. IPRES, CSS and ICAMO provide formal social-protection channels, but informal work limits coverage and enforcement. ANPEJ supports job matching through registration, skills assessment, career guidance, profile and vacancy matching, placement support, interview training, business creation and formalization. Employers can use needs analysis, vacancy publication, sourcing, prequalification and a CV database containing more than 50,000 profiles, including diaspora profiles. ANPEJ services do not create an entitlement to a job. Skills pathways include 3FPT vouchers, ISEP and short CCP courses lasting three or six months, as well as one-month certificates. The PFPE program offered 1,200 places in 2024/25 in Diourbel, Ziguinchor, Sédhiou and Kolda, with priority areas such as plumbing, electrical work, photovoltaics, agro-food, masonry, dyeing and graphic design; eligible participants received fees and an allowance under the call. Access depends on each announcement and may require a CNI, an extract of civil status and evidence of vulnerability. Espoir Jeunes targets people aged 18 to 40 with a professional project, with a BAC required for three- or six-month CCP courses. Formal training does not automatically produce employment: the 2023 employment rate was 50.2% for people with formal training and 66.0% for those with informal training, reflecting the practical importance of informal apprenticeship and on-the-job learning. The NEET rate among 15- to 24-year-olds was 46.8%, including 55.2% of young women and 38.0% of young men; it reached 54.9% in rural areas and was highest in Matam, Tambacounda and Kédougou. Professional mobility and migration also affect supply: recent interregional migration across occupations was 2.6%, while 2024 contracts for workers moving outside their usual residence rose to 1,024 from 739 in 2023. Informal and cross-border work migration is likely under-recorded in administrative data. ANSD measures labor-market conditions through ENES, EERH and RGPH-5. DGTSS and ITSS provide contract, inspection and social-protection information, although EERH excludes public administration. Real GDP grew by 5.8% year on year in the first quarter of 2026, with growth of 8.6% in industry, 5.7% in agriculture and 5.2% in services. This supports opportunities in industry, extractive activities, trade, construction linked to agriculture and technical or digital services, while youth pressure, gender gaps, rural-urban mismatch, informality and differences between certificates and job requirements remain significant constraints.