Labour force participation rate (ILO modelled estimates)
People aged 15 and over who are employed or looking for work, as a share of the population of that age, from the ILO modelled estimates. Values for the current and following years are ILO projections.
Highest in 2025
87.0%
Qatar
Lowest in 2025
23.3%
São Tomé and Príncipe
World, 2025
60.8%
Official aggregate published by the source
Countries ranked for 2025
181
181 countries have a value for 2025, the latest period in the data.
Trend over time
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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 | World | United States | China | India |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 60.8% | 61.7% | 64.6% | 55.7% |
| 2024 | 61.0% | 62.0% | 64.9% | 55.6% |
| 2023 | 61.0% | 62.1% | 65.8% | 54.7% |
| 2022 | 60.7% | 61.8% | 65.8% | 53.6% |
| 2021 | 60.4% | 61.5% | 67.1% | 52.5% |
| 2020 | 59.7% | 61.6% | 65.7% | 51.5% |
| 2019 | 61.0% | 62.8% | 67.4% | 52.3% |
| 2018 | 61.2% | 62.6% | 67.8% | 52.5% |
| 2017 | 61.3% | 62.5% | 68.4% | 52.7% |
| 2016 | 61.5% | 62.4% | 68.9% | 52.9% |
Flags: f Projection . A dash means no value was published.
In short
- Among the 181 countries with a value for 2025, the highest is Qatar (87.0%) and the lowest São Tomé and Príncipe (23.3%).
- Half of the countries are above 61.7% and half below.
- From 2024 to 2025 the value rose in 41 countries and fell in 140.
- The figure for the world was 60.8% in 2025, against 59.7% in 2020 (+1.2 percentage points).
About this measure
Source and dates
All countries in 2025 Every value is for 2025, so the countries are compared at the same point in time.
- 1 Qatar 87.0%
- 2 Madagascar 85.5%
- 3 Solomon Islands 84.3%
- 4 Tanzania 83.7%
- 5 Nigeria 82.5%
- 6 Cambodia 82.4%
- 7 North Korea 82.2%
- 8 Uganda 80.0%
- 9 Niger 79.7%
- 10 Mozambique 78.7%
- 11 Bolivia 78.6%
- 12 United Arab Emirates 78.6%
- 13 Eritrea 78.3%
- 14 Burundi 78.3%
- 15 Liberia 76.6%
- 16 Benin 76.4%
- 17 Iceland 74.9%
- 18 Angola 74.8%
- 19 Bahamas 73.8%
- 20 Central African Republic 73.4%
- 21 Kuwait 73.4%
- 22 Peru 72.9%
- 23 Viet Nam 72.8%
- 24 Moldova 72.3%
- 25 Bahrain 70.4%
- 26 New Zealand 70.4%
- 27 Paraguay 70.2%
- 28 Burkina Faso 70.0%
- 29 Singapore 69.7%
- 30 Jamaica 69.6%
- 31 Botswana 68.8%
- 32 Ethiopia 68.5%
- 33 Oman 68.4%
- 34 Saint Lucia 68.3%
- 35 Indonesia 68.0%
- 36 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 67.9%
- 37 Macao SAR, China 67.8%
- 38 Republic of the Congo 67.8%
- 39 Kazakhstan 67.8%
- 40 Zimbabwe 67.7%
- 41 Kenya 67.4%
- 42 Netherlands 67.2%
- 43 Côte d'Ivoire 67.1%
- 44 Mali 67.0%
- 45 Timor-Leste 67.0%
- 46 Cyprus 67.0%
- 47 Switzerland 66.7%
- 48 Thailand 66.7%
- 49 Australia 66.5%
- 50 Panama 66.3%
- 51 Malaysia 66.1%
- 52 Laos 66.1%
- 53 Nicaragua 66.1%
- 54 Norway 65.6%
- 55 Israel 65.5%
- 56 Cameroon 65.2%
- 57 Estonia 65.1%
- 58 Saudi Arabia 65.1%
- 59 Uruguay 65.0%
- 60 Denmark 64.9%
- 61 Ireland 64.8%
- 62 Dominican Republic 64.8%
- 63 Bhutan 64.8%
- 64 Guinea-Bissau 64.8%
- 65 Barbados 64.7%
- 66 Sweden 64.6%
- 67 China 64.6%
- 68 Canada 64.5%
- 69 Ecuador 64.5%
- 70 South Korea 64.4%
- 71 Georgia 64.3%
- 72 Democratic Republic of the Congo 64.3%
- 73 Albania 64.3%
- 74 Brunei 64.2%
- 75 Malta 64.0%
- 76 Haiti 63.9%
- 77 Rwanda 63.7%
- 78 Maldives 63.5%
- 79 Japan 63.4%
- 80 Colombia 63.4%
- 81 Azerbaijan 63.3%
- 82 Brazil 63.1%
- 83 Lithuania 62.9%
- 84 Belarus 62.7%
- 85 Malawi 62.6%
- 86 Chile 62.3%
- 87 Guam 62.3%
- 88 El Salvador 62.1%
- 89 Zambia 61.9%
- 90 Argentina 61.9%
- 91 United States 61.7%
- 92 Mexico 61.6%
- 93 Luxembourg 61.5%
- 94 United Kingdom 61.4%
- 95 Philippines 61.4%
- 96 Russia 61.1%
- 97 Hungary 60.6%
- 98 Germany 60.6%
- 99 Latvia 60.5%
- 100 Equatorial Guinea 60.5%
- 101 Slovakia 60.4%
- 102 Czechia 60.3%
- 103 Austria 60.1%
- 104 Mongolia 59.7%
- 105 Finland 59.7%
- 106 Guatemala 59.6%
- 107 Chad 59.4%
- 108 Armenia 59.4%
- 109 Serbia 59.1%
- 110 Belize 59.1%
- 111 Namibia 58.8%
- 112 Bangladesh 58.8%
- 113 Mauritius 58.5%
- 114 Ghana 58.5%
- 115 Poland 58.3%
- 116 Portugal 58.2%
- 117 Vanuatu 58.1%
- 118 Montenegro 58.0%
- 119 Togo 57.8%
- 120 Trinidad and Tobago 57.8%
- 121 Costa Rica 57.7%
- 122 Slovenia 57.6%
- 123 Uzbekistan 57.5%
- 124 Spain 57.4%
- 125 Kyrgyzstan 57.4%
- 126 Fiji 57.2%
- 127 Lesotho 57.1%
- 128 Cabo Verde 57.0%
- 129 Honduras 56.6%
- 130 New Caledonia 56.4%
- 131 Hong Kong SAR, China 56.4%
- 132 Bulgaria 56.1%
- 133 Comoros 55.8%
- 134 India 55.7%
- 135 South Africa 55.6%
- 136 France 55.3%
- 137 Myanmar 55.1%
- 138 Guyana 55.0%
- 139 Türkiye 54.4%
- 140 US Virgin Islands 54.4%
- 141 Belgium 54.3%
- 142 Suriname 53.8%
- 143 Sierra Leone 53.4%
- 144 Guinea 52.6%
- 145 French Polynesia 52.4%
- 146 Pakistan 52.3%
- 147 Cuba 52.2%
- 148 Croatia 52.1%
- 149 Papua New Guinea 52.1%
- 150 Senegal 52.0%
- 151 Greece 52.0%
- 152 North Macedonia 51.9%
- 153 Venezuela 51.9%
- 154 Romania 51.3%
- 155 Eswatini 51.2%
- 156 Gabon 51.1%
- 157 Tonga 49.8%
- 158 Italy 49.3%
- 159 Bosnia and Herzegovina 49.0%
- 160 Sri Lanka 48.5%
- 161 Libya 48.0%
- 162 Gambia 47.5%
- 163 Tunisia 45.2%
- 164 Egypt 44.6%
- 165 Morocco 43.9%
- 166 Puerto Rico (US) 42.8%
- 167 Samoa 42.5%
- 168 Turkmenistan 42.0%
- 169 Iraq 41.5%
- 170 Iran 41.0%
- 171 Algeria 40.8%
- 172 Mauritania 40.8%
- 173 Jordan 40.1%
- 174 Nepal 39.2%
- 175 Tajikistan 38.3%
- 176 Afghanistan 37.5%
- 177 Syria 36.9%
- 178 Somalia, Fed. Rep. 33.8%
- 179 Yemen 33.1%
- 180 Djibouti 31.7%
- 181 São Tomé and Príncipe 23.3%
- World 60.8%
Below the line: groups and aggregates, not ranked.
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Grey: no value for 2025. Colour groups split countries into roughly equal numbers. Boundaries: Natural Earth.