Unemployment in São Tomé and Príncipe

The National Institute of Social Security, known as INSS, does not list unemployment among the benefits in the current REPSO social insurance catalogue under Decree-Laws 19/2022, 25/2022 and 7/2023. Law 7/2004 provides for a possible future unemployment benefit for people with long contribution careers, but no concrete entitlement, application process, payment period or minimum contribution requirement was identified. Losing a job therefore does not currently trigger a documented INSS income replacement payment. Available indicators show why access to contribution-based protection is limited. The 2017 INE/IOF survey recorded unemployment among 8.9% of the economically active population, with 14.6% for women and 5.1% for men. A World Bank/ILOSTAT model estimated 9.1% for 2025. In 2021, only 31.7% of the working population was contributing to INSS, while 68.3% was outside that coverage. Informal work is widespread, so a person may have lost income without having a contribution record that could support an insurance claim. A person who lacks sufficient means may instead approach the Directorate for Social Protection and Solidarity Services, known as DPSSF, for citizenship-based social protection. This system covers vulnerable residents, including unemployed people experiencing marginalisation, and can provide money, goods or services. Eligibility depends on a needs and resources assessment and may also depend on residence conditions. The rules and amounts are set by legal instruments rather than by a general unemployment-benefit schedule, and the system applies nationally, including the Autonomous Region of Príncipe. The Vulnerable Family Programme, or PFV, provides conditional cash transfers to vulnerable households. It is not unemployment insurance and does not begin automatically when employment ends. Access generally requires identity documents and evidence of vulnerability through district or regional delegations and the Cadastro Social Único, also called Ké Non. In 2025, the programme covered 5,000 households through five payment cycles ending in October, with more than STN 35,750,000 distributed; amounts and cycles remain programme-dependent. The PE-STP employment programme and the Directorate of Labour, Employment, Vocational Training and Labour Relations, known as DTEFP, provide employment-related services rather than unemployment payments. PE-STP can support account registration, job searches, employer contacts, internships and first work experience. These services can be useful after formal or informal work ends, but available vacancies and programme activity depend on current listings and local implementation. A separate protection may arise when employment ends through a collective economic dismissal. Under the Labour Code, Law 6/2019, the employer must provide 60 days of notice and conduct 15 days of consultation and negotiation. Compensation is one month of basic remuneration plus seniority-related payments called diuturnidades for each completed year, subject to a minimum of three monthly remunerations. The worker also has a two-year preference for rehiring. A challenge may seek interim suspension within five working days and a court claim within 90 days. These rules concern collective dismissal and do not automatically apply to every form of employment termination. When a person starts new dependent employment, national and foreign employees are generally subject to INSS contributions. The employee contributes 4% of remuneration and the employer contributes 6%; the employer declares remuneration monthly and pays by the 10th day of the following month. These contributions build protection for covered social risks but do not create an automatic unemployment payment. For independent workers, the researched INSS coverage is mainly directed to invalidity, old age and death rather than unemployment. No separate unemployment-related reporting duty or unemployment register requirement was identified in the applicable benefit rules.