This drop marks the first time the country’s labour force has contracted since 2010. From 2010 to 2023, the labour force had been steadily increasing – driven in large part by rising female labour force participation.

Bangladesh’s labour force has contracted significantly over the past year, with women bearing the brunt of the decline, according to the final Labour Force Survey 2024 conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS). The report reveals that the total size of the labour force fell from 73.4 million in 2023 to 71.7 million in 2024 – a drop of approximately 1.7 million people.

While male participation in the labour market remained largely steady, dipping only slightly from 48.1 million to 48.0 million, female participation plunged more markedly – from 25.3 million in 2023 to 23.7 million in 2024.

This drop marks the first time the country’s labour force has contracted since 2010. From 2010 to 2023, the labour force had been steadily increasing – driven in large part by rising female labour force participation, which had gone up from 17.2 million in 2010 to 25.3 million in 2023.

Why Is Female Participation Falling?

Experts who reviewed the BBS findings point to multiple interlinked causes behind the decline in women’s participation:

1. Jobless Growth: The overall job creation rate in Bangladesh has slowed. With fewer new employment opportunities, women’s labour force participation tends to suffer disproportionately.
2. Changes in Manufacturing and Automation Pressures: In particular, the garment sector — historically one of the biggest employers of women — is facing strong competition, technological change, and automation. As a consequence, fewer jobs are available for women with little or no education. Some estimates suggest women’s share in the garment industry has dropped from over 80 percent to around 65 percent.
3. Structural Transformation without Female-Sensitive Interventions: As the economy shifts away from agriculture toward manufacturing and services, the gains in employment for women that might be expected from this transformation are not fully materializing. Urban, semi-skilled, formal sector jobs for women have not increased in the way that might match the economy’s changing structure.
4. Barriers in Rural Non-Farm Sectors: For women in rural areas, entrepreneurial opportunities are constrained by lack of capital, inadequate market access, poor information, and insufficient policy and financial support. Much rural female employment is unpaid, informal, or temporary, and women often drop out of the labour force when their husbands return to villages after migration, or when seasonal demand declines.
5. Education and Aspirations: Some of the decline in participation is associated with rising levels of education. As more women enrol in education, their labour force participation tends to decline in the short term. Educated women may also find that formal sector jobs that match their qualifications are scarce, or that work-enabling infrastructure (such as childcare) is lacking. Social factors and expectations also play a role.

Urban vs Rural Patterns

The BBS report and expert commentary suggest that much of the recent rise in female labour force participation in earlier years came from rural areas, but urban participation has remained low. The gains were not as dramatic in urban areas, both in terms of numbers and quality of employment.

Experts warn that the decline in women’s labour force participation is not simply a statistic but has serious economic and social implications. The quality of employment matters: even when women are participating, many of the jobs are informal, unskilled, temporary, or unpaid. This limits income stability, social protection, and career progression.

Moreover, as structural transformation in the economy (from agriculture to manufacturing and services) accelerates, there is concern that women are not reaping the benefits. Without appropriate policies, women risk being left behind as more “modern” sectors grow.

Expert Viewpoints and Policy Suggestions

• Rizwanul Islam, former special adviser at the International Labour Organization’s Geneva office, emphasized the “U-shaped relationship” between development level and women’s labour force participation: that is, participation often declines during intermediate stages of development (as education rises and traditional agricultural work falls), but then rises again when economies mature and formal sectors expand.
• To reverse or mitigate the decline, Islam points to the need for creating more opportunities for women in the modern service sectors — such as education, healthcare, finance, hospitality — especially for those with higher education who are underemployed relative to their aspirations.
• Sayema Haque Bidisha, economics professor at Dhaka University, stressed that job creation must improve overall, but also that female-specific constraints (skill training, childcare, infrastructure) must be addressed. She argued that formal, urban, skill-based employment needs to increase, not only for economic growth but for gender inclusion and equality.

What’s at Stake

The decline in female labour force participation threatens Bangladesh’s broader development goals. Economic growth, poverty reduction, and inclusive development depend heavily on tapping into the full potential of the workforce, including women. If large numbers of women are excluded—or withdraw—from the labour market, both households and the national economy lose out in terms of productivity, income, and social empowerment.

Bangladesh’s recent BBS labour force data reveals not just a first contraction in over a decade, but an alarming slide in women’s participation. While multiple factors are to blame  – economic structural changes, slower job growth, automation in manufacturing, urban-rural divides, and social/infrastructural barriers – the net effect is that many women are being excluded or discouraged from continuing in or entering the workforce. Policy interventions that focus on creating quality jobs, ensuring supportive infrastructure (like childcare), enhancing skill training, and facilitating women’s entry into and retention in formal sectors could help reverse this trend.

Without such efforts, the risk is that Bangladesh’s journey toward inclusive growth will falter  –  and that millions of women who once saw labour force participation as a pathway to financial independence and societal contribution may find themselves left behind.