Lebanon's private-sector workforce has been slashed by a third as Israel's attacks in the south exacerbate already challenging conditions stemming from years of economic instability, a study by the International Labour Organisation has shown.
Job losses have been particularly severe in governorates that are targets of Israeli aggression, with the highest figure being an unemployment rate of 76.5 per cent in Nabatieh and 43.2 per cent in South Lebanon, the UN agency said in the report published on Tuesday.
Of the 33 per cent who have lost their jobs throughout Lebanon, about 28 per cent are now unemployed while nearly 5 per cent have completely exited the workforce, it said. The study did not indicate how many are seeking employment.
Lebanon had a population of nearly 5.85 million as of the end of 2025, data from Worldometers shows. The survey was conducted before Israel and Hezbollah renewed their fighting in early March, days after the US and Israel began their military operation in Iran.
It covered 2,485 private-sector workers who were employed before the conflict resumed in March.
“Lebanon's ongoing crisis has had devastating consequences … eroding social cohesion and severely disrupting employment, income stability and job quality, with far-reaching effects on workers' livelihoods and the functioning of the labour market,” analysts at the Geneva-based ILO said.
The main reason for the losses is displacement, which has remained volatile amid the conflict: nearly all respondents from Nabatieh – 97.6 per cent – said they had been displaced, compared with 57.6 per cent in South Lebanon and 33.6 per cent in Mount Lebanon.
Most vulnerable
Job losses were unevenly distributed across economic sectors but the hardest hit were real estate, and arts and entertainment, with a 60 per cent unemployment rate, and domestic work, at 51.7 per cent. The figure for administrative support and other services, and accommodation and food services, is well above 40 per cent.
Workers in information technology, financial services, professional services, and electricity and water supply have been less affected, it added.
The job squeeze has disproportionately affected already vulnerable groups, with higher rates of joblessness hitting people with disabilities the hardest, at 71.4 per cent, followed by women (44.3 per cent), young people aged 15–24 (42.4 per cent), Syrian refugees (39.4 per cent) and people in informal jobs (37.7 per cent), the report said.
Many Syrian refugees fled to Lebanon, starting in 2011, to escape a gruelling civil war that also had devastating economic consequences.
“Individuals with lower levels of education, those without written contracts and those working for smaller enterprises were also at a greater disadvantage compared to their respective counterparts,” the ILO said.
Earning less
Re-employment, meanwhile, often came at the expense of earnings and job quality, at least partly reflecting lower bargaining power in an already highly constrained labour market characterised by a growing pool of jobseekers and limited employment opportunities, the ILO said.
Those lucky enough to secure new jobs earned nearly a third less than they did in their previous jobs, with a majority, 61.3 per cent, forced into informal jobs and only about 6 per cent in formal employment, the study revealed. The remainder were self-employed.
Women faced additional challenges in trying to re-enter the workforce, notably due to household and family responsibilities and the inability to afford transport or other work-related expenses, it said.
Overall, the situation reflects “the broader economic repercussions of the crisis, including weakened demand, reduced economic activity, inflationary pressures and wider market disruptions”, analysts at the ILO said.
Lebanon’s financial crisis erupted in 2019 and many economists linked the collapse to decades of corruption and structural mismanagement compounded by regional instability.
The situation was made worse by the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, which at present is under a fragile ceasefire, but flare-ups have occurred in recent weeks.
The country lost its land trade route. Exports declined, transport costs rose and the economy absorbed the shock of the arrival of nearly one million Syrian refugees, which added pressure to an already fragile system.
The government, however, has enacted a number of strategies to prop up the economy. Lebanon's Economy Minister, Amer Bisat, had previously acknowledged to The National that the conflict is deepening the crisis but said long-term recovery is possible.
The ILO said a complete stop to the conflict is the “most critical prerequisite” for recovery that would create conditions needed to resume economic activity, reopen businesses and return displaced people to their areas of origin.
Recovery efforts can then be boosted by including rights-based promotion of decent work, workforce inclusion, especially among those who are vulnerable, and effective participation of relevant labour market players, the ILO analysts said.
“These principles are essential to ensuring that labour market recovery is both equitable and sustainable,” they said.
“While both immediate emergency interventions and longer-term structural reforms are required to support a sustained recovery and build forward better, several cross-cutting principles should underpin all policy responses.”
