An Overview of Unemployment Rates and Economic Participation in the Provinces of Iran

The 'Open Data Iran' platform reported on Monday, July 9, regarding unemployment rates and economic participation in Iran's provinces, stating that six provinces have the highest rates. Research from this platform shows that over the past six years, the provinces of Kermanshah, Lorestan, Sistan and Baluchestan, Khuzestan, Kurdistan, and Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari have had the highest unemployment rates in Iran. According to this report, the average unemployment rate in Iran last year was about 8 percent, while the provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan, Kermanshah, and Lorestan recorded a rate of 12 percent. The lowest unemployment rate last year was in the provinces of Razavi Khorasan and South Khorasan, at about 6 percent. The report states that due to the small size of the labor market in Iran, alongside the unemployment rate, the economic participation rate must also be considered, which is an indicator that specifies the ratio of the active population (i.e., employed or ready to work) to the total population of working age (i.e., population over 15 years old). This indicator for all of Iran in the year 1402 was 41 percent, but in the provinces of Sistan and Baluchestan, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, and Ilam, it was less than 36 percent. In the provinces of Ardabil, Gilan, and Mazandaran, the indicator exceeded 45 percent, and in Zanjan province, it reached a relatively unprecedented 51 percent. There is a significant increase in the unemployment rate among women and youth in Iran, ongoing protests by workers of 'Darougar' and the petrochemical company 'Arghavan Gostar' due to unemployment and delayed wages, fact-checking claims made by government candidates for replacing Raisi in the third debate; at least four claims were assessed as 'outlandish', an economist stated: 'We are heading towards a regression of poverty', the Research Center of the Parliament: Sistan and Baluchestan is the most deprived province in Iran, an economic newspaper: the government provides false information regarding the unemployment rate.