Labour Force Survey (LFS)

The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a household survey carried out by the ZamStats in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MLSS). The LFS is a nation-wide survey covering household population in both rural and urban areas in all the ten provinces. The survey excludes populations in institutions such as correctional facilities (prisons) refugee camps, hospitals, or barracks.

The first Zambia Labour Force Survey was conducted in 1986. Follow up surveys were conducted in 2005, 2008, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Since its inception in 1986, the major objective of the LFS has been to measure the size of the labour force and its characteristics (age, sex, industry, sector of employment, education,etc).

The LFS provides key indicators of labour market such as the Labour force participation rate; employment-to-population ratio; Status in employment; Employment by sector; Employment by occupation; Part-time workers; Unemployment; Youth employment; Employment in the informal sector; etc

Currently, the Agency produces  both quarterly labour force  and annual reports.