Labor market in Gambia

The Gambia's labor market is highly informal and dominated by independent work. Informal employment accounted for 85.8% of total employment in the 2026 Q1 labor force survey conducted by the Gambia Bureau of Statistics (GBoS). The rate was 88.7% for women and 91.2% in rural areas. Independent workers made up 58.5% of employment, including 52.4% working independently without employees. Dependent workers accounted for 41.5%; employees represented 27.4%, dependent contractors 8.5%, employers 6.1% and contributing family workers 5.7%. Private-sector employment accounted for 90.8%, compared with 8.3% in the public sector. Services accounted for 57.9% of employment, industry for 24.3% and agriculture for 17.8%. Wholesale and retail made up 25.6% of employment, construction 13.8%, manufacturing 9.6% and accommodation and food services 7.3%. Women were concentrated in services at 68.8% and agriculture at 24.7%, while industry accounted for 6.4% of women's employment. Service and sales occupations represented 33.7% of employment, craft and trades 20.8%, elementary work 11.9%, skilled agriculture, forestry and fishery 13.0%, professionals 5.9% and technicians and associate professionals 3.6%. Women were especially concentrated in service and sales work at 52.1%, while men had higher shares in craft and trades at 33.8% and plant and machine work at 12.0%. Labor-market access differs by location. Urban labor-force participation and employment-to-population rates were 56.7% and 52.9%, compared with 50.6% and 48.0% in rural areas. The broader LU3 labor-underuse measure was 45.7% in Kuntaur, 36.5% in Kerewan, 31.4% in Basse, 30.8% in Mansakonko, 28.7% in Janjanbureh, 21.0% in Banjul, 19.4% in Kanifing and 18.0% in Brikama. Youth unemployment was highest in Banjul at 17.8%, followed by Kanifing and Basse at 13.1%. Informal employment exceeded 90% in Basse, Kuntaur and Janjanbureh. Qualifications influence access but do not guarantee a formal job. Labor-force participation was 70.2% for people with a diploma, 66.8% for higher-education graduates, 58.7% for people with vocational training and 58.4% for people with primary education. Formal secondary and tertiary education, technical and vocational education and training (TVET), apprenticeships, on-the-job learning and informal skills acquisition all provide routes into work. The National Accreditation and Quality Assurance Authority (NAQAA) supports accreditation, qualifications and recognition of prior learning, while the Ministry of Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology (MoHERST) provides the wider TVET and higher-education framework. The 2021-2030 TVET Policy emphasizes labor-market relevance, apprenticeships, digital skills and transitions into employment or self-employment. The Department of Labour (DoL) provides Public Employment Services (PES) for jobseekers and employers, including job matching. The Ministry of Trade, Industry, Regional Integration and Employment (MOTIE) analyzes labor trends and coordinates employment policy. Its planned Labour Market and Migration Information System (LMMIS) is intended to improve labor-market information and policy use. Private employment agencies can also operate when licensed under the Labour Act 2023. Publicly verified national standards for registration requirements, fees and placement times are not established, so access and timing may differ by provider and program. Pay varies sharply by work arrangement, formality, sector and location. Average monthly income was GMD 6,238 and the median was GMD 3,000 across all workers. Employees averaged GMD 9,455 with a median of GMD 6,500, while self-employed workers earning from their own activity averaged GMD 4,609 with a median of GMD 1,750. Formal workers averaged GMD 12,753, compared with GMD 5,262 for informal workers. Urban workers averaged GMD 6,920 and rural workers GMD 4,947. Average income was GMD 9,356 in non-market services, GMD 8,881 in construction and GMD 3,353 in agriculture; the agricultural median was GMD 900. These survey incomes describe observed earnings and do not establish a legal wage floor. The Labour Act 2023 covers recruitment, apprenticeships, wage protection, occupational safety and health, non-discrimination, collective bargaining, redundancy, and employment protections for children, women and people with disabilities. The DoL handles relevant labor administration and inspection, while the Industrial Tribunal deals with employment disputes. Employment contracts, professional requirements and unemployment support belong to neighboring subjects, but they affect how people enter, remain in or leave the labor market. Labor-market conditions changed between the 2025 Q1 and 2026 Q1 surveys. Labor-force participation rose from 47.1% to 54.5%, the employment-to-population ratio from 43.2% to 51.1%, standard unemployment fell from 8.3% to 6.2%, and youth unemployment fell from 11.5% to 8.7%. Time-related underemployment increased from 10.1% to 11.1%, while the employee share fell from 30.9% to 27.4%. The 2026 survey used the full 21st International Conference of Labour Statisticians methodology, so formal and informal employment figures are not directly comparable with 2025. International migrants represented 6.0% of the working-age population. Foreign-born people had an employment-to-population ratio of 63.8%, compared with 50.3% for people born in The Gambia, but foreign-born informal employment was 90.1%. Their mean usual working time was 47.8 hours per week, compared with 44.1 hours for native-born workers. Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone and Nigeria were the main birth countries among international migrants. Internal migration also shapes access: 23.7% of people were born in a different local government area, with Brikama and Kanifing the main destinations. Marriage and family were the stated motives for 77.7% of internal migrants, while work accounted for 6.6%. The Gambia Immigration Department manages border entry, residence and expatriate-worker matters. Migrants seeking formal work need to meet applicable documentation, residence and work-compliance requirements.