Labour force participation in Zambia

The ILO estimates that 61.9% of people aged 15 and over in Zambia were in the labour force in 2025.

Measure: Labour force participation rate (ILO modelled estimates) Unit: % of working-age population aged 15 and over Data: 1991 to 2025 Source: ILOSTAT
Zambia, 2025 61.9% % of working-age population aged 15 and over
Change from 2024 0percentage points 2024: 61.9%
World, 2025 60.8% Official aggregate
Position in 2025 89th of 181 See the full ranking

Labour force participation in Zambia over time

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Zambia World ×

% 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.

Labour force participation rate (ILO modelled estimates) (% of working-age population aged 15 and over), 2003 to 2027 – the last ten estimates and projections every five years; the CSV has every year
Period ZambiaWorld
2025 61.9% 60.8%
2024 61.9% 61.0%
2023 62.0% 61.0%
2022 59.5% 60.7%
2021 60.1% 60.4%
2020 60.9% 59.7%
2019 59.5% 61.0%
2018 58.5% 61.2%
2017 58.6% 61.3%
2016 58.7% 61.5%

Flags: f Projection . A dash means no value was published.

In short

  • That is a change of 0 percentage points from 61.9% in 2024.
  • Since 2015, when it was 58.8%, the figure has changed by +3.2 percentage points.
  • Among the 181 countries with data for 2025, Zambia has the 89th highest value.
  • The figure for the world in 2025 was 60.8%.

Source and dates

Original producer
International Labour Organization, ILO Modelled Estimates
Distributed by
International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT
Dataset or series code
ILO,DF_EAP_2WAP_SEX_AGE_RT,1.0 · dataset details · view at source
Selection
.A..SEX_T.AGE_YTHADULT_YGE15
Observation period
1991 to 2025 for Zambia
Provider update
Not stated by the provider
Retrieved
9 November 2026
Published here
9 November 2026
Licence
CC BY 4.0
Attribution
Source: ILO, ILOSTAT (ILO Modelled Estimates), original data: International Labour Organization, ILO Modelled Estimates