Data for 2017

Labour Force Participation Rate, 2017

2017, as ILO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Labour Force Participation Rate, 2017 covers 187 countries. Qatar is highest, at 87.498; São Tomé and Príncipe is lowest, at 23.880. The middle country reads 60.659. Against 2016, 187 values changed (88 up, 99 down), the same countries are covered.

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Labour Force Participation Rate · Data for 2017

HighestQatar

87.498

LowestSão Tomé and Príncipe

23.880

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the better end. A higher value is the better result.

187countries
1measure
2017the year it describes
187distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 10, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Labour Force Participation Rate, 2017, as published. ILO ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 187 countries · select a heading to sort

Labour Force Participation Rate, 2017: every country, as published by International Labour Organization (ILO).
derived
1	QatarQATWestern Asia	87.498
2	MadagascarMDGEastern Africa	85.647
3	Solomon IslandsSLBMelanesia	84.320
4	TanzaniaTZAEastern Africa	83.860
5	North KoreaPRKEastern Asia	82.094
6	CambodiaKHMSouth-eastern Asia	81.409
7	NigeriaNGAWestern Africa	80.890
8	BurundiBDIEastern Africa	80.093
9	EritreaERIEastern Africa	78.996
10	MozambiqueMOZEastern Africa	78.983
11	United Arab EmiratesAREWestern Asia	78.759
12	Burkina FasoBFAWestern Africa	78.122
13	VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia	77.200
14	PeruPERSouth America	76.996
15	LiberiaLBRWestern Africa	76.910
16	IcelandISLNorthern Europe	76.892
17	AngolaAGOMiddle Africa	75.609
18	EthiopiaETHEastern Africa	74.758
19	BeninBENWestern Africa	74.315
20	South SudanSSDEastern Africa	74.269
21	BahamasBHSCaribbean	74.159
22	Central African RepublicCAFMiddle Africa	73.425
23	KuwaitKWTWestern Asia	73.388
24	NigerNERWestern Africa	72.892
25	BahrainBHRWestern Asia	72.389
26	KenyaKENEastern Africa	72.306
27	UgandaUGAEastern Africa	71.759
28	ParaguayPRYSouth America	71.039
29	OmanOMNWestern Asia	70.708
30	New ZealandNZLAustralia and New Zealand	70.480
31	KazakhstanKAZCentral Asia	70.230
32	MacauMACEastern Asia	69.862
33	Saint LuciaLCACaribbean	69.369
34	CameroonCMRMiddle Africa	69.308
35	MaliMLIWestern Africa	69.159
36	SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia	68.943
37	BoliviaBOLSouth America	68.634
38	SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe	68.538
39	ChinaCHNEastern Asia	68.350
40	MoldovaMDAEastern Europe	68.331
41	Republic of the CongoCOGMiddle Africa	68.156
42	EcuadorECUSouth America	68.154
43	ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia	67.525
44	Saint Vincent and the GrenadinesVCTCaribbean	67.132
45	Timor-LesteTLSSouth-eastern Asia	67.058
46	GhanaGHAWestern Africa	66.855
47	IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia	66.694
48	BarbadosBRBCaribbean	66.166
49	NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe	66.126
50	Côte d’IvoireCIVWestern Africa	66.121
51	ColombiaCOLSouth America	66.013
52	ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa	65.989
53	HaitiHTICaribbean	65.922
54	PanamaPANCentral America	65.872
55	GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia	65.832
56	CanadaCANNorthern America	65.792
57	JamaicaJAMCaribbean	65.674
58	NorwayNORNorthern Europe	65.659
59	IsraelISRWestern Asia	65.491
60	NicaraguaNICCentral America	65.333
61	AustraliaAUSAustralia and New Zealand	65.248
62	MalaysiaMYSSouth-eastern Asia	65.202
63	BruneiBRNSouth-eastern Asia	65.191
64	AzerbaijanAZEWestern Asia	65.038
65	DR CongoCODMiddle Africa	64.756
66	BrazilBRASouth America	64.525
67	BelarusBLREastern Europe	64.479
68	SwedenSWENorthern Europe	64.391
69	CyprusCYPWestern Asia	64.377
70	HondurasHNDCentral America	64.359
71	UruguayURYSouth America	64.114
72	BelizeBLZCentral America	64.034
73	MalawiMWIEastern Africa	63.467
74	EstoniaESTNorthern Europe	63.244
75	Guinea-BissauGNBWestern Africa	63.000
76	ChileCHLSouth America	62.951
77	South KoreaKOREastern Asia	62.910
78	BhutanBTNSouthern Asia	62.782
79	BotswanaBWASouthern Africa	62.766
80	United StatesUSANorthern America	62.548
81	RussiaRUSEastern Europe	62.496
82	United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe	62.412
83	Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean	62.367
84	GuamGUMMicronesia	62.355
85	MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia	62.023
86	IrelandIRLNorthern Europe	61.921
87	DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe	61.827
88	Trinidad and TobagoTTOCaribbean	61.563
89	ArmeniaARMWestern Asia	61.462
90	Equatorial GuineaGNQMiddle Africa	61.305
91	GuatemalaGTMCentral America	60.943
92	LatviaLVANorthern Europe	60.786
93	AustriaAUTWestern Europe	60.665
94	GermanyDEUWestern Europe	60.659
95	LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe	60.612
96	ChadTCDMiddle Africa	60.505
97	Hong KongHKGEastern Asia	60.466
98	RwandaRWAEastern Africa	60.461
99	JapanJPNEastern Asia	60.444
100	LesothoLSOSouthern Africa	60.243
101	MexicoMEXCentral America	60.209
102	New CaledoniaNCLMelanesia	60.205
103	CzechiaCZEEastern Europe	60.073
104	VanuatuVUTMelanesia	59.909
105	VenezuelaVENSouth America	59.903
106	SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe	59.893
107	MauritiusMUSEastern Africa	59.887
108	Costa RicaCRICentral America	59.848
109	LaosLAOSouth-eastern Asia	59.782
110	NamibiaNAMSouthern Africa	59.668
111	MaldivesMDVSouthern Asia	59.181
112	Cabo VerdeCPVWestern Africa	59.180
113	PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia	59.141
114	MongoliaMNGEastern Asia	59.138
115	United States Virgin IslandsVIRCaribbean	59.135
116	El SalvadorSLVCentral America	59.006
117	Saudi ArabiaSAUWestern Asia	58.990
118	PortugalPRTSouthern Europe	58.881
119	ArgentinaARGSouth America	58.808
120	Channel IslandsCHINorthern Europe	58.738
121	LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe	58.737
122	FinlandFINNorthern Europe	58.667
123	ZambiaZMBEastern Africa	58.577
124	SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe	58.552
125	BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia	58.328
126	TogoTGOWestern Africa	58.074
127	AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe	58.057
128	SpainESPSouthern Europe	58.047
129	HungaryHUNEastern Europe	57.834
130	MaltaMLTSouthern Europe	57.657
131	PolandPOLEastern Europe	57.562
132	FijiFJIMelanesia	57.457
133	KyrgyzstanKGZCentral Asia	56.868
134	UzbekistanUZBCentral Asia	56.468
135	UkraineUKREastern Europe	56.305
136	SurinameSURSouth America	56.138
137	French PolynesiaPYFPolynesia	55.822
138	GuyanaGUYSouth America	55.599
139	CubaCUBCaribbean	55.556
140	BulgariaBGREastern Europe	55.405
141	South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa	55.359
142	FranceFRAWestern Europe	55.258
143	Sierra LeoneSLEWestern Africa	54.675
144	SamoaWSMPolynesia	54.432
145	TongaTONPolynesia	54.349
146	GuineaGINWestern Africa	54.278
147	Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia	53.991
148	SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe	53.554
149	BelgiumBELWestern Europe	53.336
150	North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe	53.157
151	TürkiyeTURWestern Asia	52.832
152	IndiaINDSouthern Asia	52.671
153	MontenegroMNESouthern Europe	52.640
154	RomaniaROUEastern Europe	51.837
155	CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe	51.388
156	PakistanPAKSouthern Asia	51.338
157	GabonGABMiddle Africa	51.043
158	GreeceGRCSouthern Europe	51.022
159	EswatiniSWZSouthern Africa	50.838
160	Papua New GuineaPNGMelanesia	50.418
161	ItalyITASouthern Europe	49.501
162	Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe	49.408
163	LibyaLBYNorthern Africa	49.329
164	ComorosCOMEastern Africa	49.253
165	LebanonLBNWestern Asia	47.973
166	GambiaGMBWestern Africa	47.773
167	TunisiaTUNNorthern Africa	47.488
168	AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia	47.305
169	SenegalSENWestern Africa	46.002
170	MoroccoMARNorthern Africa	45.500
171	EgyptEGYNorthern Africa	44.950
172	IranIRNSouthern Asia	44.235
173	PalestinePSEWestern Asia	44.004
174	TurkmenistanTKMCentral Asia	43.115
175	SudanSDNNorthern Africa	42.409
176	AlgeriaDZANorthern Africa	42.325
177	IraqIRQWestern Asia	41.890
178	MauritaniaMRTWestern Africa	41.102
179	JordanJORWestern Asia	40.226
180	NepalNPLSouthern Asia	39.915
181	TajikistanTJKCentral Asia	38.877
182	Puerto RicoPRICaribbean	38.236
183	SyriaSYRWestern Asia	37.742
184	SomaliaSOMEastern Africa	34.102
185	YemenYEMWestern Asia	32.470
186	DjiboutiDJIEastern Africa	32.272
187	São Tomé and PríncipeSTPMiddle Africa	23.880

02In 2017

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Qatar87.498
2Madagascar85.647
3Solomon Islands84.320
4Tanzania83.860
5North Korea82.094

Lowest

187São Tomé and Príncipe23.880
186Djibouti32.272
185Yemen32.470
184Somalia34.102
183Syria37.742

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 60.659. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032016 → 2017

Since 2016

What changed between 2016 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
187values changed, of 187 in both
88 · 99rose · fell
0unchanged

Rose most

Maldives56.893 → 59.181+2.288
Bangladesh56.090 → 58.328+2.238
Bulgaria53.310 → 55.405+2.095
Slovenia56.843 → 58.552+1.709
Peru75.377 → 76.996+1.619

Fell most

Senegal50.116 → 46.002−4.114
Philippines61.590 → 59.141−2.449
Kyrgyzstan59.215 → 56.868−2.347
Kenya74.405 → 72.306−2.099
Uganda73.777 → 71.759−2.018

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

The site’s method

One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from ILO’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 2017.
The position is ours
ILO publishes values only. The order here sorts the published values, and the page says so wherever it prints one.
Which end is better
A higher value is the better result.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 187 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
187 rows · 5.3 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download labour-participation-2017-nations-inquiry.csv
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The publisher’s original
ILO’s own file, on its own site.
SL.TLF.CACT.ZS

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY 4.0. Share, adapt and use commercially. Credit the publisher and say if you changed anything.

Cite this edition

International Labour Organization (ILO) (2017). Labour Force Participation Rate, 2017 [data set], describing 2017. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/labour-participation/2017

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Labour Force Participation Rate, 2016
187 countries
The year after ›
Labour Force Participation Rate, 2018
187 countries
All of them
Labour Force Participation Rate: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions