ILO · Employment-to-Population Ratio
Employment-to-population ratio by country
What share of adults are in work?
Qatar placed first of the 182 countries compared in 2025, at 86.900%, and São Tomé and Príncipe last, at 21.210%. In the middle country the figure was 57.720%. Among the 182 countries measured in every edition since 1991, the middle one moved from 56.716% to 57.720%.
Part ofWork & Labour
Employment-to-population ratio · 2025
Key statistic · Work & Labour
Highest of 182Qatar
86.900%012025 · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the highest end of 182 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: Haakon S. Krohn derivative work: JamesA · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
2Photo: Nash Belarus · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
3Photo: Bernard Gagnon derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
Lowest in 2025
- 182
São Tomé and Príncipe21.210% - 181
Djibouti23.486% - 180
Yemen27.369%
Positions out of 182. Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
Highest on each continent
- Africa
Madagascar82.895% - Americas
Bolivia76.294% - AsiaQatar86.900%
- Europe
Iceland72.210% - Oceania
Solomon Islands83.089% - Every region
02Every measured country
Employment-to-population ratio 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 — the better end.
- 21.210–49.171%
- 49.498–55.469%
- 55.676–59.979%
- 60.056–65.302%
- 65.532–86.900%
- No reading in 2025 (5 measured in an earlier edition)
- Asia
60.740%
the middle country, of 48 measured · 52 members
Qatar86.900%Yemen27.369%Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Americas
59.114%
the middle country, of 33 measured · 48 members
Bolivia76.294%
Puerto Rico40.216%Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Europe
57.184%
the middle country, of 39 measured · 49 members
Iceland72.210%
Bosnia and Herzegovina43.584%Highest and lowest reading in Europe.
- Africa
56.692%
the middle country, of 51 measured · 55 members
Madagascar82.895%São Tomé and Príncipe21.210%Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Oceania
54.103%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 21 members
Solomon Islands83.089%
Samoa40.409%Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.
- Every region
22 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- South-eastern Asia
65.765%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 11 members
Cambodia82.175%
Myanmar53.410%Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Eastern Africa
62.569%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 19 members
Madagascar82.895%Djibouti23.486%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Eastern Asia
61.893%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 8 members
North Korea79.240%
Hong Kong54.778%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Western Asia
61.477%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 19 members
Qatar86.900%Yemen27.369%Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
- Western Africa
59.931%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Nigeria79.988%
Mauritania36.564%Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- Central America
59.014%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 8 members
Nicaragua62.744%
Costa Rica53.713%Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- Northern Europe
58.979%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 13 members
Iceland72.210%Channel Islands52.880%
Highest and lowest reading in Northern Europe.
- Middle Africa
58.812%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Central African Republic68.802%São Tomé and Príncipe21.210%Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- South America
58.756%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 12 members
Bolivia76.294%
Guyana48.409%Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- Eastern Europe
57.839%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 10 members
Moldova71.202%
Romania48.255%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Western Europe
57.601%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Netherlands64.643%
Belgium51.068%Highest and lowest reading in Western Europe.
- Caribbean
55.828%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 24 members
Jamaica67.281%Puerto Rico40.216%Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- Central Asia
54.841%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Kazakhstan64.537%
Tajikistan35.623%Highest and lowest reading in Central Asia.
- Melanesia
54.103%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Solomon Islands83.089%
New Caledonia50.116%Highest and lowest reading in Melanesia.
- Southern Europe
50.776%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 17 members
Malta62.127%Bosnia and Herzegovina43.584%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.
- Southern Asia
49.498%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Bhutan62.729%
Afghanistan32.457%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- Southern Africa
47.488%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Botswana51.958%
Eswatini33.683%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
- Northern Africa
38.966%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 6 members
Egypt41.546%
Algeria36.039%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
New Zealand66.781%
Australia63.816%Highest and lowest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Micronesia
1 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Guam.
Guam58.797%Highest and lowest reading in Micronesia.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
Canada60.061%
United States59.114%Highest and lowest reading in Northern America.
- Polynesia
3 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: French Polynesia, Samoa, Tonga.
Tonga48.808%Samoa40.409%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 57.720%; a quarter are above 63.422%, and a quarter below 50.630%. 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. A high ratio is not straightforwardly good news. Some of the distance between countries is students staying in education longer and pensioners retiring earlier, and some of the very highest ratios belong to countries where people cannot afford to stop working.
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 ratio moves slowly, so a sharp step usually reflects a shock — a war, a crisis or a change in how the labour force is surveyed.
- 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 | 57.720% | 50.630% – 63.422% | 57.720% |
| 2024 | 182 | 57.694% | 50.605% – 63.474% | 57.694% |
| 2023 | 184 | 58.158% | 50.582% – 63.672% | 58.158% |
| 2022 | 186 | 57.688% | 50.115% – 63.562% | 57.778% |
| 2021 | 187 | 56.066% | 49.189% – 62.723% | 56.371% |
| 2020 | 187 | 55.691% | 48.455% – 61.897% | 55.962% |
| 2019 | 187 | 57.871% | 49.897% – 63.567% | 57.970% |
| 2018 | 187 | 56.911% | 49.487% – 63.297% | 57.682% |
| 2017 | 187 | 56.738% | 50.106% – 62.953% | 56.823% |
| 2016 | 187 | 56.845% | 49.694% – 62.957% | 56.966% |
| 2015 | 187 | 56.788% | 49.852% – 63.429% | 56.953% |
| 2014 | 187 | 56.774% | 49.573% – 63.380% | 56.792% |
| 2013 | 187 | 56.229% | 49.756% – 63.377% | 56.826% |
| 2012 | 187 | 56.289% | 49.405% – 63.072% | 56.447% |
| 2011 | 187 | 56.297% | 49.318% – 63.068% | 56.634% |
| 2010 | 187 | 56.212% | 48.288% – 62.979% | 56.321% |
| 2009 | 187 | 56.255% | 48.707% – 63.027% | 56.391% |
| 2008 | 187 | 57.308% | 49.676% – 64.272% | 57.331% |
| 2007 | 187 | 56.933% | 49.189% – 64.565% | 57.081% |
| 2006 | 187 | 56.685% | 48.676% – 63.727% | 56.726% |
| 2005 | 187 | 56.129% | 48.938% – 63.679% | 56.192% |
| 2004 | 187 | 55.465% | 49.138% – 63.921% | 55.570% |
| 2003 | 187 | 55.630% | 48.841% – 63.853% | 55.689% |
| 2002 | 187 | 55.843% | 48.798% – 64.033% | 55.902% |
| 2001 | 187 | 56.018% | 48.644% – 64.605% | 56.084% |
| 2000 | 187 | 55.861% | 48.906% – 64.184% | 55.910% |
| 1999 | 187 | 55.737% | 49.095% – 64.400% | 55.841% |
| 1998 | 187 | 56.289% | 49.400% – 63.804% | 56.368% |
| 1997 | 187 | 55.754% | 49.264% – 63.835% | 56.061% |
| 1996 | 187 | 55.730% | 49.039% – 64.147% | 56.170% |
| 1995 | 187 | 55.989% | 49.021% – 64.169% | 56.141% |
| 1994 | 187 | 56.451% | 49.435% – 63.891% | 56.454% |
| 1993 | 187 | 55.897% | 49.180% – 63.841% | 56.104% |
| 1992 | 187 | 56.574% | 49.510% – 64.003% | 56.590% |
| 1991 | 187 | 56.707% | 49.801% – 64.264% | 56.716% |
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.
Improved most
before → after
Belize51.905% → 53.866% · 131st → 122nd+1.961
Colombia57.418% → 58.142% · 94th → 89th+0.724
Paraguay66.275% → 66.873% · 32nd → 28th+0.598
Saint Lucia61.271% → 61.813% · 63rd → 59th+0.542- Bolivia75.766% → 76.294% · 12th → 12th+0.528
Declined most
before → after- Kazakhstan67.176% → 64.537% · 29th → 40th−2.639
Finland54.826% → 54.035% · 116th → 121st−0.791
Estonia60.475% → 59.714% · 71st → 77th−0.761
Armenia52.485% → 51.744% · 128th → 130th−0.741
Switzerland64.189% → 63.494% · 42nd → 46th−0.695
182 countries were measured in both 2024 and 2025.
07Across every edition
Employment-to-population ratio in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
87.461%
Employed share of the population aged 15+ (%)
Lowest reading on record
19.841%
Employed share of the population aged 15+ (%)
Biggest improvement between editions
+15.474
67.436% → 82.910%
Biggest decline between editions
−17.873
58.057% → 40.184%
Most improved since first measured
+15.609
47.511% → 63.120%
At the top most often
18 of 35
editions, alone at the first-listed end
08The measure
About employment-to-population ratio
The employment-to-population ratio is the share of everyone aged 15 and over who is in work. It is a more robust headline than the unemployment rate, because it does not depend on how a country defines actively looking for a job.
What the number is: Employed share of the population aged 15+ (%).
What it does not measure
It counts whether people have work, not whether that work is formal, safe or pays enough to live on.
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
A key statistic for Work & Labour
“How much of the working-age population is actually in work — the half of the picture unemployment hides, because people who stop looking stop being counted.”
- Edition used
- 2025 (data 2025)
- Countries
- 182
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
Moves with
Where employment-to-population ratio is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Labour Force Participation RateILO · 182 countries in commonρ 0.96
- Female Labour Force Participation RateILO · 182 countries in commonρ 0.81
Moves against
Where employment-to-population ratio is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Unemployment RateKeyILO · 182 countries in commonρ −0.64
- Youth Unemployment RateILO · 182 countries in commonρ −0.62
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
The countries at either end
11Questions
Employment-to-population ratio: questions and answers
Which country has the highest employment-to-population ratio?
Qatar, at 86.900%, among the 182 countries compared in 2025.
Which country has the lowest employment-to-population ratio?
São Tomé and Príncipe, at 21.210%, among the 182 countries compared in 2025.
How many countries does the Employment-to-Population Ratio 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-to-population ratio?
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 57.720%.
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-to-Population Ratio 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. An ILO modelled estimate, pulled through the World Bank’s indicator API (SL.EMP.TOTL.SP.ZS). Modelled rather than measured so that one definition applies to every country. 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-to-Population Ratio — International Labour Organization (ILO)
An ILO modelled estimate, pulled through the World Bank’s indicator API (SL.EMP.TOTL.SP.ZS). Modelled rather than measured so that one definition applies to every country.
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 2026-09-10.
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.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- 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.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Qatar — Haakon S. Krohn derivative work: JamesA, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Solomon Islands — Nash Belarus, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Madagascar — Bernard Gagnon derivative work: Jjtkk, CC BY-SA 3.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Employment-to-population ratio by country: Employment-to-Population Ratio, data from International Labour Organization (ILO). https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/employment-ratio