Youth employment in Cameroon: unemployment, informal work, schemes
Cameroon's official unemployment rate looks low, at around 3 to 6% depending on the source. It hides a different reality: the vast majority of jobs are informal, many workers work fewer hours than they would like or earn less than the minimum wage, and unemployment hits university graduates harder than the rest of the population. This page brings together the public figures, explaining each time what they measure.
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Unemployment: what the figures say
The national benchmark is the Employment and Informal Sector Survey (EESI) by the National Institute of Statistics (INS), carried out in 2005, 2010 and 2021 (EESI 3, funded with the World Bank, results published in 2023). Under the International Labour Organization (ILO) definition, an unemployed person had no job in the previous week, looked for work in the previous month and is available. The INS also computes broader measures (SU2 to SU4) that add time-related underemployment and the âpotential labour forceâ, including discouraged jobseekers.
| Area | SU1 (%) | SU2 (%) | SU3 (%) | SU4 (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Douala | 15.4 | 28.4 | 19.0 | 31.5 |
| Yaoundé | 11.7 | 29.5 | 16.5 | 33.3 |
| Urban | 9.4 | 26.7 | 13.7 | 30.3 |
| Rural | 1.6 | 17.7 | 4.7 | 20.5 |
| Cameroon | 6.1 | 23.0 | 10.0 | 26.3 |
Unemployment is therefore mainly an urban phenomenon: it affects 15.4% of the labour force in Douala and 11.7% in Yaoundé, against 1.6% in rural areas, where almost everyone works, even if only a little. Once underemployment is added, more than one worker in four is underused nationwide. The INS stresses that these results, computed under the 2013 ILO standards, cannot be compared with those of the 2005 and 2010 surveys.
| Indicator | Value | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment, total (ILO modelled) | 3.6% | 2025 |
| Unemployment, ages 15-24 (ILO modelled) | 6.5% | 2025 |
| Unemployment, total (national estimate) | 3.3% | 2021 |
| Unemployment among those with advanced education | 18.8% (13.3% in 2014) | 2021 |
| Youth not in employment, education or training (NEET) | 23.2% (17.0% in 2014) | 2021 |
| Vulnerable employment (own-account and family workers) | 67.6% of jobs (73.6% in 2015) | 2025 |
Informal work as the norm
According to EESI 3 (2021), 86.6% of jobs are informal: 52.0% in non-agricultural informal work and 34.6% in informal agriculture. Public administration accounts for just 7.1%, public or semi-public companies for 1.2% and the formal private sector for 5.1%. The employment rate is 50.8% among people aged 14 and over (58.3% for men, 43.7% for women) and falls to 39.3% among 15-34-year-olds. Only 38.6% of those in work are wage earners, 64.6% in Yaoundé.
Unemployment among university graduates (18.8% in 2021 according to the World Bank) is three times the average rate: the formal market, private and public, does not create enough skilled jobs to absorb university leavers. Hence the appeal of civil service exams and, for some, of emigration: since the economic crises of the 1990s, hundreds of graduates have left the country every year, according to the Wikipedia article on education in Cameroon.
The minimum wage (SMIG)
The guaranteed minimum wage (SMIG) was set at 36,270 CFA francs a month by Decree No. 2014/2217/PM of 24 July 2014. That figure, in force at the time, is the one the INS uses in EESI 3 (2021) to measure âinvisibleâ underemployment: workers earning less than the SMIG for a 40-hour week. Decree No. 2023/00338/PM of 21 March 2023 replaced it with three rates: 60,000 CFA francs in the private non-farming sector, 45,000 in farming and related sectors, and 41,875 for state employees covered by the Labour Code. That last rate was raised to 43,969 CFA francs by Decree No. 2024/0168/PM of 23 February 2024. Details are on the page devoted to the SMIG.
Public schemes
- National Employment Fund (FNE): created on 27 April 1990 and funded by a 1% levy on gross payroll paid by employers, it has 17 branches. It matches jobseekers with employers and runs schemes such as PED (graduate employment), PEJ (youth employment pact), PADER (rural employment), MICROPAR (micro-enterprises) and PARIC (returning emigrants). Its CV database held 65,148 profiles in October 2026.
- Special recruitment of 2,000 lecturers at state universities: announced by the head of state in late 2018 and planned in three phases (1,000 posts in 2019, 500 in 2020, 500 in 2021), with the age limit raised to 45. According to MINESUP, 1,237 holders of a doctorate or PhD were recruited in the first phase (2019); the second and third phases covered 549 posts (results published in May 2021) and 573 posts (November 2022).
- Schemes attached to MINEFOP: PIAASI (integration and support for the informal sector) and the emploijeune.cm platform are among the ministry's affiliated bodies; a programme called JEME was launched in November 2025 to train young people and place them in work in rural and urban areas.
- 2026 budget: according to Wikipedia, the 2026 finance law earmarks 50 billion CFA for youth and women's employment.
Where Cameroonians work
According to the INS's EESI 3 (2021), 35.2% of jobs are in the primary sector (farming, livestock, fishing, forestry), 17.5% in industry, 14.6% in trade and 32.7% in other services; the ILO's modelled estimates published by the World Bank give 41.9% in agriculture, 14.6% in industry and 43.5% in services, trade included, for 2025. No recent official statistics ranking the sectors that hire the most young graduates could be found: the page on sectors that are hiring sets out what is known.
Frequently asked questions
What is the unemployment rate in Cameroon?
According to the INS's EESI 3 (2021), ILO unemployment stands at 6.1% of the labour force aged 14 and over, but 15.4% in Douala and 11.7% in Yaoundé. The World Bank puts the rate at 3.6% in 2025 (ILO model).
How big is the informal sector in Cameroon?
86.6% of jobs are informal according to EESI 3 (2021), including 52.0% outside agriculture and 34.6% in agriculture.
What is the minimum wage in Cameroon?
Since the decree of 21 March 2023, three rates coexist: 60,000 CFA a month in the private non-farming sector, 45,000 in farming and, since the decree of 23 February 2024, 43,969 for state employees covered by the Labour Code. The former single rate of 36,270 CFA (2014) has been repealed.
Are graduates more likely to be unemployed in Cameroon?
Yes: according to the World Bank, 18.8% of workers with advanced education were unemployed in 2021, against 3.3% of all workers.
What is the FNE in Cameroon?
The National Employment Fund, created in 1990, is the public employment service: it posts vacancies, matches jobseekers with employers and funds placement and self-employment schemes.
Handle with care
Unemployment rates differ by source: 6.1% (INS, EESI 3, aged 14 and over, 2013 ILO standards) against 3.3% (national estimate used by the World Bank for 2021), and the methodological difference is not documented in the sources consulted. In the INS leaflet the âCameroonâ row is badly formatted; the order of values used here is consistent with the urban and rural rows. The shares of informal agriculture and the public sector are sometimes quoted as 34.7% and 8.2%; the values used here (34.6%, 7.1% and 1.2%) are those that add up to the 86.6% total of informal jobs. The 2011 recruitment of 25,000 young graduates into the civil service is covered on the civil service recruitment page, PAJER-U on the page on funding a project and âbushfallingâ on the diaspora return page. The three phases of the special lecturer recruitment add up to more than 2,000 posts (2,359 according to MINESUP's results, against 2,000 announced): MINESUP's figures are reproduced as published.