As of the fourth quarter of last year, 6.97 million people aged 15 or older were in informal employment, out of a total of 8.87 million employed individuals.
Only two out of every ten employed people in the country have formal jobs, while eight out of ten work in the informal sector, without any employment contract or social protection, according to the Employment Survey for the fourth quarter of 2025, released this Wednesday, the 18th, by the National Institute of Statistics (INE).
According to the report, consulted by E&M, by the fourth quarter of last year, 6.97 million people aged 15 or older were in informal employment, out of a total of 8.87 million employed individuals, with the informality rate reaching 78.6%.
Informality is more pronounced among women, with a rate of 88.7%, compared to 69.5% among men. Among young people aged 15 to 24, the problem is even more severe: 94.1% are informally employed, rising to 96.6% among women in this age group.
INE indicates that the contrast between rural and urban areas is also significant. In rural areas, 93.2% of workers are informally employed, compared to 75.7% in urban areas.
In total, the employed population aged 15 or older was estimated at 8,876,650 people, including 4,689,536 men and 4,187,113 women. The overall employment rate stood at 39.6%, with a sharp contrast between urban areas (49.5%) and rural areas (19.7%).
Male employment remains higher than female employment, at 43.3% versus 36.1%. Among young people, the employment rate was 17.9%, while the 25 to 54 age groups account for the largest share of the employed population.
The unemployment rate fell compared to the previous quarter, from 29.6% to 20.1%, with the unemployed population aged 15 or older estimated at 2,235,824 people. Unemployment is higher among women (22%) than men (18.3%), and particularly affects young people aged 15 to 24, where the unemployment rate reaches 43.3%.
INE clarifies that the concept of informal employment includes people aged 15 or older who, during the reference period (the seven days prior to the survey), reported having carried out paid or profit-generating activities without a legal contract and outside the scope of labor, tax, commercial, and social security legislation.
INE Excludes Own-Account Work for Self-Consumption
The fourth quarter 2025 report also introduces a significant methodological change: own-account work carried out exclusively for self-consumption is no longer included in the concept of employment in INE’s studies, as previously reported by E&M.
Economia & Mercado , 18/02/2026
