World Bank Group · Public Sector Employment
Public sector employment by country
What share of workers are employed by the state?
Of the 117 countries compared in the 2022 edition, Maldives had the highest reading, 47.098%, and Solomon Islands had the lowest reading, 1.672%. In the middle country the figure was 15.813%. 18 readings from before 2012 are listed but not compared.
Public sector employment · the 2022 edition
Context statistic
Highest of 117Maldives
47.098%01the 2022 edition · position · derived
The highest and the lowest
The three countries with the highest values of 117 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.
- 1
- 2
- 3
Lowest in the 2022 edition
- 135
Solomon Islands1.672% - 134
Niger1.975% - 133
Malawi2.396%
Positions out of 135. This statistic has no better end: the two ends describe size, not success.
02Every measured country
Public sector employment 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.
- 1.672–6.563%
- 6.580–12.514%
- 12.661–19.958%
- 20.005–27.088%
- 27.249–47.098%
- Hatched: a reading from before 2012, listed but not compared (18)
- No reading in the 2022 edition
- Europe
26.919%
the middle country, of 35 measured · 49 members
Russia44.933%
Romania12.661%Highest and lowest reading in Europe.
- Asia
13.209%
the middle country, of 25 measured · 52 members
Maldives47.098%
Bangladesh4.199%Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Americas
11.065%
the middle country, of 18 measured · 48 members
Argentina18.877%
Colombia4.174%Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Africa
7.016%
the middle country, of 37 measured · 55 members
Djibouti42.830%Niger1.975%Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Oceania
2 of 21 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, Solomon Islands.
Australia20.005%Solomon Islands1.672%Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.
- Every region
20 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- Northern Europe
29.099%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members
Norway32.833%
Estonia21.912%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Europe.
- Western Europe
28.225%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 9 members
Belgium35.785%
Germany22.424%Highest and lowest reading in Western Europe.
- Southern Europe
24.120%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 17 members
Kosovo30.743%
Italy19.536%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.
- Eastern Europe
23.494%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 10 members
Russia44.933%Romania12.661%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Southern Africa
19.459%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Botswana27.249%
Lesotho13.637%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
- Western Asia
18.195%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 19 members
Saudi Arabia32.208%
Azerbaijan11.981%Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
- South America
9.616%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 12 members
Argentina18.877%Colombia4.174%Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- South-eastern Asia
9.164%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 11 members
Vietnam15.813%
Myanmar4.272%Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Central America
8.470%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 8 members
Panama17.975%
Guatemala6.563%Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- Southern Asia
8.402%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members
Maldives47.098%Bangladesh4.199%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- Eastern Africa
6.311%
the middle country, of 15 measured · 19 members
Djibouti42.830%Malawi2.396%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Western Africa
4.725%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 16 members
Mauritania11.656%Niger1.975%Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
1 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia.
Australia20.005%Highest and lowest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Caribbean
1 of 24 measured — too few for a middle: Dominican Republic.
Dominican Republic16.545%Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- Central Asia
1 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Tajikistan.
Tajikistan29.457%Highest and lowest reading in Central Asia.
- Eastern Asia
2 of 8 measured — too few for a middle: China, Mongolia.
Mongolia27.088%
China14.975%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Melanesia
1 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Solomon Islands.
Solomon Islands1.672%Highest and lowest reading in Melanesia.
- Middle Africa
4 of 9 measured — too few for a middle: Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Gabon.
Gabon22.629%
Chad2.406%Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- Northern Africa
2 of 6 measured — too few for a middle: Egypt, Tunisia.
Tunisia22.809%
Egypt21.768%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- Northern America
1 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: United States.
United States12.879%Highest and lowest reading in Northern America.
03The whole field at once
The spread
117 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 15.813%; a quarter are above 23.587%, and a quarter below 7.518%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 135 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first. “=” marks a position shared with another country. World Bank Group ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. Neither end is the good end: a high share can mean a large welfare state or an economy with almost no private sector to work in. What counts as the public sector also follows each survey's own definition, and some countries include state-owned enterprises while others do not.
Showing 25 of 135 countries
Values for the 2022 edition.
05In this edition
Public sector employment in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading
47.098%
Public sector employment (% of total employment)
Lowest reading
1.672%
Public sector employment (% of total employment)
06The measure
About public sector employment
This is the share of a country's workers employed by the state — teachers, nurses, soldiers, civil servants and, in some countries, the staff of state-owned companies.
What the number is: Public sector employment (% of total employment).
07Where 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 Governance & Institutions and Work & Labour, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Governance & InstitutionsWork & LabourWhich statistics vote, and why
Moves with
Where public sector employment is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Labour Productivity per Hour WorkedILO · 114 countries in commonρ 0.80
- GDP per Person EmployedWorld Bank Group · 113 countries in commonρ 0.79
- Researchers per Million InhabitantsUIS · 89 countries in commonρ 0.79
Moves against
Where public sector employment is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Vulnerable EmploymentKeyILO · 114 countries in commonρ −0.81
- Self-Employment RateILO · 114 countries in commonρ −0.80
- Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Value Added (% of GDP)World Bank Group · 109 countries in commonρ −0.79
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 162 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
08Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
The data, edition by edition
More from World Bank Group
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- Account Ownership at a Financial Institution
- Adjusted Net Savings
- Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Value Added (% of GDP)
- Average Time to Clear Exports Through Customs
- Business Ready: Operational Efficiency
- Business Ready: Public Services
- Business Ready: Regulatory Framework
- All statistics
09Questions
Public sector employment: questions and answers
Which country has the highest public sector employment?
Maldives, at 47.098%, among the 117 countries compared in the 2022 edition.
Which country has the lowest public sector employment?
Solomon Islands, at 1.672%, among the 117 countries compared in the 2022 edition.
How many countries does the Public Sector Employment cover?
117 in the 2022 edition, and 135 at least once across all editions.
What is the world average public sector employment?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 117 compared in the 2022 edition, the figure was 15.813%.
Is this World Bank Group’s own ranking?
No. World Bank Group 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 Public Sector Employment published?
This site holds one edition, describing 2022.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From World Bank Group, under CC BY 4.0. The World Bank's Worldwide Bureaucracy Indicators, through its indicator API (BI.EMP.TOTL.PB.ZS). The Bank publishes it as a 0–1 fraction; it is scaled to a percentage here. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
10Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Public Sector Employment — World Bank Group
The World Bank's Worldwide Bureaucracy Indicators, through its indicator API (BI.EMP.TOTL.PB.ZS). The Bank publishes it as a 0–1 fraction; it is scaled to a percentage here.
Newest edition
Report year 2022Data year not recorded
Cite the source as: World Bank. Worldwide Bureaucracy Indicators. Washington, DC: World Bank Group.
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-09-11.
How this page reads the numbers
- World Bank Group 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.
- The file gives each country’s most recent reading, so the rows are from different years. Readings from before 2012 are listed but left out of every comparison on this page.
- 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). Public sector employment by country: Public Sector Employment, data from World Bank Group. https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/public-sector-employment