Labour force participation in Papua New Guinea
The ILO estimates that 52.1% of people aged 15 and over in Papua New Guinea were in the labour force in 2025. The value for 2025 is the highest in the series, which starts in 1991.
Papua New Guinea, 2025
52.1%
Change from 2024
+0.1percentage points
World, 2025
60.8%
Position in 2025
149th of 181
Labour force participation in Papua New Guinea over time
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Papua New Guinea
World
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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 working-age population 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 | Papua New Guinea | World |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 52.1% | 60.8% |
| 2024 | 52.0% | 61.0% |
| 2023 | 52.0% | 61.0% |
| 2022 | 52.0% | 60.7% |
| 2021 | 51.7% | 60.4% |
| 2020 | 51.0% | 59.7% |
| 2019 | 51.1% | 61.0% |
| 2018 | 50.8% | 61.2% |
| 2017 | 50.4% | 61.3% |
| 2016 | 50.1% | 61.5% |
Flags: f Projection . A dash means no value was published.
In short
- That is a change of +0.1 percentage points from 52.0% in 2024.
- Since 2015, when it was 49.8%, the figure has changed by +2.3 percentage points.
- Among the 181 countries with data for 2025, Papua New Guinea has the 149th highest value.
- The figure for the world in 2025 was 60.8%.
More for Papua New Guinea
All statistics for Papua New Guinea
Women's labour force participation
50.8%
2025 · ILOSTAT
Employment-to-population ratio
50.7%
2025 · ILOSTAT
ILO estimate of the unemployment rate
2.6%
2025 · ILOSTAT
ILO estimate of youth unemployment
3.8%
2025 · ILOSTAT
Employment in agriculture
36.9%
2025 · World Bank
Employment in industry
7.9%
2025 · World Bank