Over 18.53 million persons could lose their jobs in case of complete shutdown enforced by the government, amid the coronavirus pandemic revealed Pakistan Economic Survey 2019-20 in its report.

According to the preliminary estimates conducted by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), “the COVID-19 pandemic can have an adverse impact on employment generation during the last quarter of 2019-20.”

“In case of limited restrictions, about 1.4 million jobs will be lost, under moderate restrictions employment loss could reach to 12.3 million and 18.53 million people will be unemployed in case of a complete shutdown,” stated the report.

As per the report, the composition of the Pakistan population is skewed towards the working-age population, with 61.4 percent of the population falling in the age group 15-64 while 12.1 percent of the population is between the ages of 0-4 years and 22.1 percent is between 5-14 years.

“If this demographic dividend is harnessed and equipped with desired skills to meet domestic and international market requirements, the youth bulge would yield increased industrial productivity and higher foreign remittances,” said the survey.

The report further revealed that with the population growth rate of 2.4 percent, a large number of the young labor force is adding every year. “According to Labour Force Survey 2017-18 the total labour force was 65.5 million, while unemployment rate is 5.8 percent.”

As per that survey, the highest unemployment (11.56 percent) was prevalent among the ages 20-24 indicating youth unemployment.