![Tunisian civil servants and workers protest for wage increase in Tunis, Tunisia on 22 November 2018 [Yassine Gaidi/Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2018_11-22-Civil-servants-general-strike-in-Tunisia20181122_2_33557253_39245828.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Some 41.5 per cent of Tunisia’s workforce is employed in the parallel economy, a study conducted by the World Bank has shown.
The results of the study, announced yesterday by the Tunisian Institute for Strategic Studies, revealed that 55 per cent of workers in the parallel sector only have a primary school education, compared to 25 per cent in the organised sector.
The construction and public works sector has the largest share (36 per cent) of workers in the parallel economy, followed by the trade sector (24 per cent) and transport and communication (ten per cent). Tunisia’s economy grew by 2.5 per cent in 2018, compared to 1.9 per cent in 2017, in line with earlier expectations released last month by the International Monetary Fund.
Growth rates in 2018 did not succeed in reducing the country’s unemployment rate of 15.5 per cent.
The World Bank believes that the parallel economy is one of the most important obstacles to development in the country.
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