Women's labour force participation in Malawi
The ILO estimates that 58.2% of women aged 15 and over in Malawi were in the labour force in 2025. The value for 2025 is the lowest in the series, which starts in 1991.
Malawi, 2025
58.2%
Change from 2024
−0.4percentage points
World, 2025
48.7%
Position in 2025
59th of 181
Women's labour force participation in Malawi over time
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Malawi
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The chart loads when you scroll to it. The table below shows the same data.
The chart shows a calculation from the published values. The table below keeps the published values.
% of women aged 15 and over. Source: ILO, ILOSTAT (ILO Modelled Estimates). Gaps mean no published value; points are not joined across missing years. Dashed lines are projections.
| Period | Malawi | World |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 58.2% | 48.7% |
| 2024 | 58.5% | 48.9% |
| 2023 | 58.6% | 48.8% |
| 2022 | 58.8% | 48.3% |
| 2021 | 58.8% | 47.9% |
| 2020 | 63.1% | 47.0% |
| 2019 | 59.0% | 48.3% |
| 2018 | 58.9% | 48.3% |
| 2017 | 58.8% | 48.4% |
| 2016 | 60.5% | 48.5% |
Flags: f Projection . A dash means no value was published.
In short
- That is a change of −0.4 percentage points from 58.5% in 2024.
- Since 2015, when it was 62.2%, the figure has changed by −4.0 percentage points.
- Among the 181 countries with data for 2025, Malawi has the 59th highest value.
- The figure for the world in 2025 was 48.7%.
More for Malawi
All statistics for Malawi
Labour force participation
62.6%
2025 · ILOSTAT
ILO estimate of the unemployment rate
5.1%
2025 · ILOSTAT
ILO estimate of youth unemployment
6.9%
2025 · ILOSTAT
Employment-to-population ratio
59.4%
2025 · ILOSTAT
Employment in agriculture
65.0%
2025 · World Bank
Employment in industry
7.3%
2025 · World Bank