Sri Lanka's unemployment, youth female (% of female labor force ages 15-24) (national estimate) was 30.35% in 2024, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 3.94 percentage points from 26.41% in 2014.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 30.35% | 2024 |
| Five years earlier | 28.12% | 2019 |
| Ten years earlier | 26.41% | 2014 |
| Highest | 37.05% | 2005 |
| Lowest | 23.54% | 2012 |
| Average since 2015 | 29.06% | 2015–2024 |
| First recorded | 35.41% | 1999 |
What the numbers say
In 2024, Sri Lanka's unemployment, youth female (% of female labor force ages 15-24) (national estimate) rose 1.51 percentage points on 2023 (from 28.84% to 30.35%).
Across the 21 yearly changes before that (2000 to 2023), the average change was −0.46 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.05 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 6.23 percentage points in 2020 and the biggest yearly fall was 9.13 percentage points in 2022. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2015 to 2024 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 15% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2024, Sri Lanka had the 5th highest value of the 20 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Sri Lanka | 30.35% | 2024 |
| South Asia | 19.09% | 2025 |
Closest to Sri Lanka in the 2024 ranking
- Botswana — 2nd of 20: 48.98%
- Jordan — 3rd of 20: 33.76%
- Iran, Islamic Rep. — 4th of 20: 30.42%
- Egypt, Arab Rep. — 6th of 20: 28.99%
- Montenegro — 7th of 20: 25.24%
- Kosovo — 8th of 20: 23.81%
What this measures
Youth unemployment refers to the share of the labor force ages 15-24 without work but available for and seeking employment. Definitions of labor force and unemployment differ by country.
Limitations: The criteria for people considered to be seeking work, and the treatment of people temporarily laid off or seeking work for the first time, vary across countries. In many cases it is especially difficult to measure employment and unemployment in agriculture. The timing of a survey can maximize the effects of seasonal unemployment in agriculture. And informal sector employment is difficult to quantify where informal activities are not tracked.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 24 values
| Year | Unemployment, youth female (% of female labor force ages 15-24) (national estimate) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 30.35 |
| 2023 | 28.84 |
| 2022 | 26.03 |
| 2021 | 35.16 |
| 2020 | 34.35 |
| 2019 | 28.12 |
| 2018 | 29.43 |
| 2017 | 23.67 |
| 2016 | 28.36 |
| 2015 | 26.33 |
Unemployment, youth female (% of female labor force ages 15-24) (national estimate) in nearby economies
- Bangladesh — 5.02% (2024)
- Bhutan — 21.94% (2025)
- India — 19.09% (2025)
More social protection & labor data for Sri Lanka
- Net migration — -30,724 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of origin — 148,369 (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15+) (national estimate) — 29.78% (2024)
- Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) (national estimate) — 44.18% (2024)
- Labor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15+) (national estimate) — 67.4% (2024)
- Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15+) (national estimate) — 47.35% (2024)
- Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, female (%) (modeled ILO estimate) — 17.55% (2025)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Sri Lanka's unemployment, youth female (% of female labor force ages 15-24) (national estimate)?
- 30.35% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1999?
- It is down 5.06 percentage points from 35.41% in 1999. The highest value was 37.05% in 2005 and the lowest 23.54% in 2012.
- How does Sri Lanka rank?
- 5th highest of 20 economies with data for 2024.
- Is the latest change in unemployment, youth female (% of female labor force ages 15-24) (national estimate) unusual for Sri Lanka?
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SL.UEM.1524.FE.NE.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO), uri: https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/bulk/, publisher: ILOSTAT, type: external database, date accessed: September 28, 2026 Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.
Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.
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