More than 8.6 million Sri Lankans aged 15 and above were not in the labour force in 2025, according to the Sri Lanka Labour Force Survey 2025.
The figure stands at 8,625,859 people, making up approximately 50.6% of the population aged 15 and over shown in the survey. The Department of Census and Statistics conducts the Labour Force Survey to measure employment, unemployment and labour-force participation in Sri Lanka.
Accordingly, the labour-force participation rate was 49.4%, meaning that just under half of Sri Lanka’s population aged 15 and above was participating in the labour market, The Department of Census and Statistics noted.
Women account for the majority
Women made up the overwhelming majority of those outside the labour force.
Of the 8,625,859 people not in the labour force**, approximately:
6,185,730 were women
2,440,129 were men
Women therefore accounted for roughly 72% of the total population outside the labour force, compared with about 28% for men.
The gender gap is also reflected in labour-force participation: the survey recorded a participation rate of 69.1% for men, compared with 32.4% for women.
Rural areas account for more than 7 million
The majority of people outside the labour force were also from rural areas.
The survey recorded:
Rural: 7,076,080
Urban: 1,549,778
Accordingly, rural residents accounted for about 82% of the total population not in the labour force.
Unemployment remains below 4%, but women face a higher rate
The 2025 survey recorded an overall unemployment rate of 3.9%, with an estimated 329,211 people unemployed.
The unemployment rate was 6.1% among women, more than twice the 2.8% recorded among men. The survey's figures show that the female unemployment rate has remained higher than the male rate throughout the 2018–2025 period.
Unemployment also varied across sectors. In 2025, the rate was 3.4% in urban areas, 4.0% in rural areas and 4.8% in the estate sector. The national rate of 3.9% was therefore lower than the rates recorded in the rural and estate sectors.
Wide differences among districts
The district-level figures show substantial variation in unemployment. Hambantota recorded the highest unemployment rate at 6.6%, followed by Kegalle at 6.0% and Matale at 5.9%. At the other end of the table, Trincomalee recorded 0.6%, while Mullaitivu recorded 1.7% and Mannar 1.8%.
Other district rates included Badulla at 4.1%, Batticaloa at 4.3%, Kurunegala at 4.3%, Matara at 4.8%, Jaffna at 3.4%, Colombo at 3.0% and Kandy at 5.9%.
The district-level variation shows that the national unemployment rate of 3.9% masks significant differences across parts of the country.
