Despite a modest decrease in its overall unemployment rate, Tunisia continues to face a severe and persistent challenge: soaring joblessness among its young graduates.
The latest figures reveal that nearly 38 percent of higher education graduates are unemployed, underscoring a deep-seated structural issue within the country’s labor market.
According to statistics released by the Tunisian National Institute of Statistics (INS) for the first quarter of 2025, unemployment among higher education graduates remains alarmingly high, particularly impacting the 15-24 age group at 37.7 percent. This positions Tunisia among the most affected Maghreb nations grappling with this profound socioeconomic divide.
While the overall unemployment rate has stabilized at 15.7 percent, this figure conceals significant disparities. The problem is particularly acute for young female graduates in the interior regions, where local unemployment rates can exceed 45 percent. This imbalance is rooted in a fundamental mismatch between Tunisia’s education system, traditionally focused on literary and legal studies, and a job market that struggles to absorb the approximately 70,000 new graduates annually. The private sector, in particular, frequently seeks technical or vocational profiles that are often not adequately provided by public universities.
In response, the government has been rolling out various initiatives, including additional training programs, retraining schemes, and support for self-employment. However, these efforts have struggled to effectively address the scale of the social emergency. In 2024, less than 15 percent of participants in certified training programs secured stable employment within six months.
The growing unrest is also manifesting on the streets, with recent sit-ins organized by groups of unemployed graduates in Sidi Bouzid, Gafsa, and Jendouba. These protests denounce the lack of future prospects and public policies deemed insufficient. As Tunisia strives to stabilize its public finances under pressure from international creditors, the effective management of graduate unemployment is emerging as a critical test for national social cohesion.
MK/ac/fss/abj/APA