ILO · Employment in Agriculture
Employment in agriculture by country
What share of working people work in farming, forestry and fishing?
Of the 182 countries compared in 2025, Burundi had the highest reading, 85.3411%, and Singapore had the lowest reading, 0.0954%. In the middle country the figure was 14.3834%. Among the 182 countries measured in every edition since 1991, the middle one moved from 28.3578% to 14.3834%.
Employment in agriculture · 2025
Context statistic
Highest of 182Burundi
85.3411%012025 · position · derived
The highest and the lowest
The three countries with the highest values of 182 compared, the three with the lowest, and the highest on each continent. This statistic has no better end, so no country is shown as leading.
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02Every measured country
Employment in agriculture on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a higher value. This statistic has no better end, so the shades describe size, not success.
- 0.0954–2.7665%
- 2.7762–9.2452%
- 9.4784–23.6094%
- 24.7144–41.6251%
- 41.8540–85.3411%
- No reading in 2025 (5 measured in an earlier edition)
- Africa
40.2410%
the middle country, of 51 measured · 55 members
Burundi85.3411%
Djibouti1.1511%Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Oceania
23.6094%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 21 members
Vanuatu44.5276%
Guam1.5612%Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.
- Asia
21.0824%
the middle country, of 48 measured · 52 members
Laos68.5970%
Singapore0.0954%Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Americas
11.4004%
the middle country, of 33 measured · 48 members
Haiti46.6145%
Bahamas0.7750%Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Europe
3.4934%
the middle country, of 39 measured · 49 members
Moldova50.5020%
United Kingdom0.8513%Highest and lowest reading in Europe.
- Every region
22 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- Eastern Africa
55.0023%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 19 members
Burundi85.3411%Djibouti1.1511%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Middle Africa
51.9494%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Chad71.7360%
São Tomé and Príncipe12.0607%Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- Western Africa
40.6810%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Niger72.9925%
Cabo Verde9.2452%Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- Melanesia
36.8625%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Vanuatu44.5276%
New Caledonia1.7817%Highest and lowest reading in Melanesia.
- Southern Asia
36.2295%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Afghanistan51.6290%
Maldives11.3051%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- South-eastern Asia
27.2969%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 11 members
Laos68.5970%Singapore0.0954%Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Central Asia
21.9332%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Tajikistan43.2727%
Kazakhstan11.3196%Highest and lowest reading in Central Asia.
- Southern Africa
18.0285%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Lesotho30.8762%
South Africa5.4071%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
- Central America
16.0866%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 8 members
Nicaragua30.4723%
Mexico11.4004%Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- Northern Africa
12.4585%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 6 members
Morocco27.8922%
Algeria9.4846%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- South America
10.5442%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 12 members
Ecuador32.4812%
Chile6.0655%Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- Caribbean
7.0089%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 24 members
Haiti46.6145%Bahamas0.7750%Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- Eastern Europe
5.1090%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 10 members
Moldova50.5020%
Slovakia2.1630%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Eastern Asia
5.1038%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 8 members
North Korea54.0793%
Hong Kong0.1824%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Western Asia
4.5318%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 19 members
Azerbaijan34.2268%
Israel0.7597%Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
- Southern Europe
4.2602%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 17 members
Albania30.7723%
Malta0.8765%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.
- Northern Europe
2.9568%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 13 members
Latvia6.6637%United Kingdom0.8513%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Europe.
- Western Europe
1.7042%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Austria2.7665%
Luxembourg0.8782%Highest and lowest reading in Western Europe.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
New Zealand5.4183%
Australia2.1761%Highest and lowest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Micronesia
1 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Guam.
Guam1.5612%Highest and lowest reading in Micronesia.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
United States1.5249%
Canada1.1047%Highest and lowest reading in Northern America.
- Polynesia
3 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: French Polynesia, Samoa, Tonga.
Samoa26.8774%
French Polynesia1.9182%Highest and lowest reading in Polynesia.
03The whole field at once
The spread
182 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 14.3834%; a quarter are above 34.4869%, and a quarter below 3.7062%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 187 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first. “=” marks a position shared with another country. International Labour Organization (ILO) ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. Neither end is better. A falling share is what every economy that industrialised did, and it is also what happens when rural work disappears faster than anything replaces it — the number cannot tell those two apart.
Showing 25 of 187 countries
Values for 2025. The change column compares 2025 with 2024 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
051991–2025 · 35 reference years
Over time
Each point is one reference year from 1991.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 182 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 182 | 14.3834% | 3.7062% – 34.4869% | 14.3834% |
| 2024 | 182 | 14.7298% | 3.8183% – 35.0815% | 14.7298% |
| 2023 | 184 | 14.6752% | 3.9624% – 36.1965% | 14.6752% |
| 2022 | 186 | 14.9139% | 4.1368% – 36.8916% | 14.9139% |
| 2021 | 187 | 15.6650% | 4.2375% – 37.3901% | 15.7015% |
| 2020 | 187 | 16.1000% | 4.2933% – 37.8695% | 16.1351% |
| 2019 | 187 | 15.6252% | 4.3120% – 38.0671% | 15.8414% |
| 2018 | 187 | 16.0283% | 4.3862% – 38.1213% | 16.0288% |
| 2017 | 187 | 16.1624% | 4.5918% – 38.8010% | 16.2551% |
| 2016 | 187 | 16.7225% | 4.6860% – 39.8312% | 16.7369% |
| 2015 | 187 | 17.7449% | 4.8464% – 40.6454% | 17.7822% |
| 2014 | 187 | 18.1480% | 4.7561% – 41.0180% | 18.1688% |
| 2013 | 187 | 18.2208% | 4.8566% – 41.5742% | 18.4176% |
| 2012 | 187 | 18.1680% | 5.2743% – 42.3649% | 18.3551% |
| 2011 | 187 | 18.4185% | 5.2390% – 43.1923% | 18.6226% |
| 2010 | 187 | 19.2979% | 5.3689% – 42.7636% | 19.5850% |
| 2009 | 187 | 19.1233% | 5.5094% – 42.9638% | 19.5379% |
| 2008 | 187 | 18.8964% | 5.4101% – 44.3373% | 19.1047% |
| 2007 | 187 | 19.0795% | 5.5974% – 44.7227% | 19.1087% |
| 2006 | 187 | 20.0206% | 5.9730% – 44.9629% | 20.0371% |
| 2005 | 187 | 20.1692% | 6.0393% – 45.7517% | 20.2095% |
| 2004 | 187 | 21.1647% | 6.3993% – 46.5647% | 21.2526% |
| 2003 | 187 | 21.7610% | 7.1241% – 47.5983% | 21.8790% |
| 2002 | 187 | 22.8466% | 7.2001% – 47.7676% | 23.0559% |
| 2001 | 187 | 23.1582% | 7.2760% – 48.6006% | 23.4741% |
| 2000 | 187 | 23.4234% | 7.4515% – 48.6614% | 23.8422% |
| 1999 | 187 | 23.6765% | 8.6083% – 48.5038% | 24.2364% |
| 1998 | 187 | 25.0157% | 8.5938% – 48.0519% | 25.0839% |
| 1997 | 187 | 25.6146% | 8.8414% – 48.3340% | 25.6972% |
| 1996 | 187 | 25.8386% | 9.2632% – 49.1322% | 26.2924% |
| 1995 | 187 | 25.7515% | 9.4451% – 49.1746% | 25.8863% |
| 1994 | 187 | 25.8909% | 9.4672% – 49.6526% | 26.1272% |
| 1993 | 187 | 26.8164% | 9.6404% – 50.0196% | 26.8991% |
| 1992 | 187 | 27.1496% | 10.1538% – 50.4798% | 27.1757% |
| 1991 | 187 | 28.2937% | 10.3536% – 50.3730% | 28.3578% |
062024 → 2025
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions — reference years recalculated in one report, not two separate publications. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Rose most
before → after
Equatorial Guinea55.1066% → 55.3235% · 18th → 16th+0.2169- Afghanistan51.4544% → 51.6290% · 22nd → 22nd+0.1746
Central African Republic66.0528% → 66.0601% · 7th → 7th+0.0073
Fell most
before → after
Rwanda36.5025% → 35.0514% · 44th → 45th−1.4512
Senegal30.6480% → 29.5764% · 58th → 59th−1.0716
Côte d’Ivoire46.2588% → 45.3665% · 28th → 28th−0.8923
Guinea48.2399% → 47.3584% · 24th → 24th−0.8816
Ethiopia61.0084% → 60.1432% · 13th → 13th−0.8652
182 countries were measured in both 2024 and 2025.
07Across every edition
Employment in agriculture in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
92.4202%
Employment in agriculture (% of total employment)
Lowest reading on record
0.0796%
Employment in agriculture (% of total employment)
Biggest rise between editions
+10.7088
57.3530% → 68.0618%
Biggest fall between editions
−15.3666
51.8691% → 36.5025%
Biggest change since first measured
+22.8344
29.1150% → 51.9494%
Highest most often
35 of 35
editions, alone at the first-listed end
08The measure
About employment in agriculture
Employment in agriculture is the share of a country’s working people employed in farming, forestry and fishing. Across two centuries it is the number that falls as economies industrialise — which is exactly why it needs reading carefully rather than quickly.
What the number is: Employment in agriculture (% of total employment).
09Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Work & Labour and Food & Agriculture, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Work & LabourFood & AgricultureWhich statistics vote, and why
Moves with
Where employment in agriculture is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Vulnerable EmploymentKeyILO · 182 countries in commonρ 0.91
- Self-Employment RateILO · 182 countries in commonρ 0.91
- Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Value Added (% of GDP)World Bank Group · 148 countries in commonρ 0.88
Moves against
Where employment in agriculture is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Employment in ServicesILO · 182 countries in commonρ −0.94
- Labour Productivity per Hour WorkedILO · 181 countries in commonρ −0.90
- GDP per Person EmployedWorld Bank Group · 168 countries in commonρ −0.89
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 188 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
10Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
11Questions
Employment in agriculture: questions and answers
Which country has the highest employment in agriculture?
Burundi, at 85.3411%, among the 182 countries compared in 2025.
Which country has the lowest employment in agriculture?
Singapore, at 0.0954%, among the 182 countries compared in 2025.
How many countries does the Employment in Agriculture cover?
182 in 2025, and 187 at least once across all editions. The number measured varies from 182 to 187 between editions.
What is the world average employment in agriculture?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 182 compared in 2025, the figure was 14.3834%.
Is this International Labour Organization (ILO)’s own ranking?
No. International Labour Organization (ILO) publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Employment in Agriculture published?
This site holds 35 reference years, 1991–2025, all recalculated in International Labour Organization (ILO)’s 2026 report on one method — not 35 separate publications.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From International Labour Organization (ILO), under CC BY 4.0. From the ILO’s modelled estimates via the World Bank’s indicator API (SL.AGR.EMPL.ZS). Modelled rather than measured, so one definition applies to all 187 countries instead of 187 national ones — that is what makes the comparison possible and each figure an estimate. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
12Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Employment in Agriculture — International Labour Organization (ILO)
From the ILO’s modelled estimates via the World Bank’s indicator API (SL.AGR.EMPL.ZS). Modelled rather than measured, so one definition applies to all 187 countries instead of 187 national ones — that is what makes the comparison possible and each figure an estimate.
Newest edition
Report year 2025Data year 2025
Cite the source as: International Labour Organization. ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST). Geneva: ILOSTAT.
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-09-06.
How this page reads the numbers
- International Labour Organization (ILO) ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- This statistic has no better end, so the page describes higher and lower values and never calls a country a leader.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Employment in agriculture by country: Employment in Agriculture, data from International Labour Organization (ILO). https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/agriculture-employment