2. Employment and social trends by region
X Table 2.4 Estimates and projections of working hours, employment, unemployment and labour force, regional and subregional, Asia and the Pacific, 2019–23 Region/subregion
Ratio of total weekly hours worked to population aged 15–64 (percentages)
Total weekly working hours in full-time equivalent jobs (FTE = 48 hours/week) (millions)
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
Asia and the Pacific
29.2
26.8
28.0
28.6
28.8
1 771
1 638
1 723
1 774
1 797
East Asia
33.8
32.5
33.9
34.0
33.9
825
790
821
823
821
South-East Asia
29.7
27.3
27.5
28.6
29.3
277
257
262
275
284
Pacific Islands
25.2
24.3
24.7
24.8
25.1
14
14
14
14
14
South Asia
24.8
21.5
23.0
24.0
24.3
655
577
626
662
678
Employment-to-population ratio (percentages)
Employment (millions)
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
Asia and the Pacific
57.7
55.3
55.8
56.1
56.1
1 901
1 843
1 878
1 909
1 930
East Asia
65.5
64.4
64.3
64.2
64.1
906
895
898
901
902
South-East Asia
65.7
63.9
63.9
64.1
64.6
324
320
324
329
336
Pacific Islands
60.2
58.8
59.8
59.5
59.4
19
19
20
20
20
South Asia
47.0
43.3
44.5
45.4
45.5
651
609
636
660
672
Unemployment rate (percentages)
Unemployment (millions)
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
Asia and the Pacific
4.3
5.4
4.8
4.6
4.5
85.8
104.7
95.2
92.6
91.0
East Asia
4.3
4.8
4.6
4.5
4.3
40.6
44.7
43.1
42.0
41.0
South-East Asia
2.5
3.0
3.1
3.1
2.8
8.2
9.9
10.5
10.4
9.7
Pacific Islands
4.7
5.6
4.7
4.6
4.5
0.9
1.1
1.0
0.9
0.9
South Asia
5.2
7.4
6.0
5.6
5.5
36.0
48.9
40.7
39.3
39.4
Labour force participation rate (percentages)
Labour force (millions)
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
2019
2020
2021
2022
2023
Asia and the Pacific
60.3
58.5
58.6
58.8
58.8
1 987
1 948
1 973
2 002
2 021
East Asia
68.4
67.6
67.4
67.2
67.0
947
940
942
943
943
South-East Asia
67.4
65.9
66.0
66.1
66.4
333
330
334
340
345
Pacific Islands
63.1
62.3
62.7
62.3
62.2
20
20
21
21
21
South Asia
49.6
46.7
47.3
48.1
48.2
687
658
677
699
712
Source: ILOSTAT, ILO modelled estimates, November 2021.
in 2020 (Appendix C, table C13). Youth were also disproportionately affected, accounting for nearly half (48 per cent) of net job losses despite representing only 9 per cent of the workforce. The subregion’s labour market recovery is expected to have lagged behind its economic recovery, with only incremental increases in EPR and LFPR in 2021. The heavy toll of new variants and waves of the virus in 2021, combined with slow vaccine
roll-out, has resulted in a downward revision of the region’s growth prospects, especially for South Asia and South-East Asia (IMF 2021a). In 2020, South Asia accounted for approximately 60 per cent of the decline in working hours in the region, and 73 per cent of net job losses, as weak public healthcare and high informality compounded the human costs of the crisis. The subregion’s EPR declined by a staggering
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