Jobs, work and poverty in Somalia

Poverty

The 2022 Somalia Integrated Household Budget Survey found that 54.4 percent of people lived below the national poverty line (Somali National Bureau of Statistics, food security fact sheet).

The World Bank's reading of the same survey (World Bank blog, 30 April 2025):

• About 3 in 4 nomadic people are poor. Towns have the lowest rate.
• Because towns are growing fast, two thirds of poor people now live in towns.
• About three quarters of people lack basic services such as schooling, water or sanitation. Almost every nomadic person does.
• Districts with more poverty are also more exposed to drought and floods.
• About half of nomadic households own fewer than two "livestock units" per person, too few to live from the herd.

Larger households are poorer: poverty is 24.3 percent in households of 1 to 3 people and 63.4 percent in households of 10 or more (Somali National Bureau of Statistics).

Who works

All figures for people aged 15 and over from the Somali National Bureau of Statistics, SIHBS 2022:

• Employment rate: 21.7 percent of adults had work (men 32.9 percent, women 12.2 percent).
• Labour force participation: 25.9 percent were working or looking for work (men 39.9 percent, women 15.4 percent).
• Unemployment: 16.3 percent of those in the labour force. It is higher in towns (19.3 percent) than in rural (10.6 percent) and nomadic areas (5.5 percent).
• Youth unemployment: 30.1 percent overall, 35.6 percent in towns, and higher for young women (32.0 percent) than young men (29.0 percent).

The World Bank calls this one of the lowest labour force participation rates in the region. Most people who work do so in low-paid, informal work (World Bank blog).

What kind of work

About a quarter of employed people do clerical support work, and another quarter are in professional services. Women are more often in basic jobs (16.0 percent) (SIHBS 2022).

Small family businesses

• 15.8 percent of households ran their own business in the past year: 18.0 percent in towns, 16.9 percent in rural areas and 3.2 percent among nomads.
• More women than men own these businesses: 56.7 percent are owned by women alone, 35.4 percent by men alone.
• The most common are street or market trading (37.2 percent) and small shops and workshops such as tailors, barbers, mechanics and carpenters (23.4 percent).
• Only 34.7 percent are registered.

All four: SIHBS 2022.

Money tools families use

• 8.8 percent of adults own a bank account (10.3 percent in towns, 2.0 percent among nomads).
• 85 percent own a mobile phone, and 81.8 percent of owners use it for money.
• 27.6 percent of people aged 10 and over used the internet in the past three months.

All three: SIHBS 2022.

Young people and jobs

About 500,000 young people enter the labour market each year, against about 80,000 new jobs, according to figures cited at the launch of a national startup network in August 2026 (MENA Startup Digest). The World Bank warns that drought and aid cuts are putting jobs and livelihoods at risk in 2026 (World Bank, May 2026).

Somaliland

Somaliland ran its own household survey with its own labour figures. Those are not included in the national numbers above (Somaliland Ministry of Planning).