A PROFILE OF SOUTH ASIA AT WORK
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by only 1 percentage point over nine years. In contrast, in Bhutan, Maldives, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, it increased 5–11 percentage points over six to nine years. In India, employment in the nonfarm sector increased steadily for 25 years, rising from 20 percent of the rural workforce in 1983 to 35 percent in 2009/10. The pace of diversification away from agriculture increased over time. During 1983–1993/94, the average annual growth in nonfarm jobs was just over 2 percent. During 1993/94–1998/99, it increased to 3 percent; between 1999 and 2004/05, it increased to 4 percent. In the 1980s, of the nearly 40 million additional rural jobs generated in India, 6 out of 10 were in the farm sector. In contrast, of the 56 million new rural jobs created between 1993 and 2004, 6 out of 10 were in the nonfarm sector (World Bank 2011a). This trend has continued in recent years: between 2004/05 and 2009/10, the nonfarm sector increased from 30 percent to 35 percent of the rural workforce. According to data from the 2000 and 2008 China National Rural Surveys, transformation of the rural labor market has been one of the most salient trends in China’s
Total agricultural employment increased significantly in Nepal and Pakistan during this period; it remained constant in Bangladesh and declined in Sri Lanka and India. The major contributors to job creation everywhere have been industry and services. Industrial employment has grown very rapidly in Bangladesh (at almost 7 percent a year), Pakistan (just over 5 percent a year), and India (just over 4 percent a year). Services employment growth has been strongest in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan, at 4–5 percent a year. The gradual decline in the shares of agricultural employment reflects not just ruralurban migration but also the growth of the rural nonfarm sector across the region. The rural nonfarm sector employs 12–59 percent of the total workforce (15–65 percent of the rural workforce) in South Asia (figure 3.7). Countries that are still primarily rural and agricultural (Bhutan, Nepal) have the smallest rural nonfarm sectors. The pace of development of the rural nonfarm sector varies widely across countries and time (figure 3.8). In Nepal, the nonfarm sector share of the rural workforce increased
FIGURE 3.7 Distribution of employment in South Asia, by sector and country 100 90
15
24
22
10
13 26
31
34
80
31
percent
70 60
57
50
16
44
69
49 66
40
41
30 20 10
59
50 27
32
28
26
17
12
0 Afghanistan 2007
Bangladesh 2005
Bhutan 2007
India 2010
rural nonfarm
Maldives 2004 rural agriculture
Nepal 2008
Pakistan 2009
Sri Lanka 2008
urban
Source: Authors, based on data from national labor force and household surveys.
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