Labour force participation in United Arab Emirates
The ILO estimates that 78.6% of people aged 15 and over in United Arab Emirates were in the labour force in 2025.
United Arab Emirates, 2025
78.6%
Change from 2024
+0.1percentage points
World, 2025
60.8%
Position in 2025
12th of 181
Labour force participation in United Arab Emirates over time
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United Arab Emirates
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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 | United Arab Emirates | World |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 78.6% | 60.8% |
| 2024 | 78.5% | 61.0% |
| 2023 | 78.4% | 61.0% |
| 2022 | 77.2% | 60.7% |
| 2021 | 77.1% | 60.4% |
| 2020 | 78.8% | 59.7% |
| 2019 | 79.5% | 61.0% |
| 2018 | 79.1% | 61.2% |
| 2017 | 78.8% | 61.3% |
| 2016 | 78.4% | 61.5% |
Flags: f Projection . A dash means no value was published.
In short
- That is a change of +0.1 percentage points from 78.5% in 2024.
- Since 2015, when it was 78.0%, the figure has changed by +0.6 percentage points.
- Among the 181 countries with data for 2025, United Arab Emirates has the 12th highest value.
- The figure for the world in 2025 was 60.8%.
More for United Arab Emirates
All statistics for United Arab Emirates
Women's labour force participation
53.0%
2025 · ILOSTAT
Employment-to-population ratio
76.9%
2025 · ILOSTAT
ILO estimate of the unemployment rate
2.2%
2025 · ILOSTAT
ILO estimate of youth unemployment
6.5%
2025 · ILOSTAT
Employment in agriculture
1.4%
2025 · World Bank
Employment in industry
30.6%
2025 · World Bank