Countries by employment-population ratio, ages 15 and over

Qatar had the highest employment-population ratio, ages 15 and over of 186 countries in 2015, at 87.1%. São Tomé and Príncipe had the lowest, at 21.5%. The median was 56.8% and the figure for the World was 57.9%. Source: the World Bank.

Highest87.1Qatar

Lowest21.5São Tomé and Príncipe

Median56.8186 countries

World57.9History

Top 40 countries, 2015

%. Source: World Bank (modelled estimate), Employment to population ratio, 15+, total, %, modeled ILO estimate (SL.EMP.TOTL.SP.ZS). Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Full ranking

Rank	Countries	2015 (%)	Change on 2014
1	Qatar	87.1	+0.6 pts
2	Madagascar	84.5	-0.5 pts
3	Solomon Islands	83.8	+0.1 pts
4	Tanzania	82.2	+0.1 pts
5	Cambodia	79.3	-0.4 pts
6	North Korea	79.2	0 pts
7	Burundi	78.3	+0.6 pts
8	Nigeria	77.5	-0.2 pts
9	United Arab Emirates	76.6	+0.5 pts
10	Mozambique	76.3	-0.7 pts
11	Ethiopia	76.1	-1.6 pts
12	Vietnam	76	-0.3 pts
13	Burkina Faso	75.1	-0.4 pts
14	Liberia	75	-0.4 pts
15	Eritrea	74.6	0 pts
16	Iceland	73.6	+1.4 pts
17	Uganda	73.6	-1.8 pts
18	Peru	73.4	-1.2 pts
19	Niger	72.9	-0.2 pts
20	Kenya	72.2	+0.1 pts
21	Benin	72.1	+0.4 pts
22	Kuwait	70.7	+1 pts
23	Bahrain	70.5	+0.2 pts
24	Mali	69.6	-0 pts
25	Macao	69.5	-0.7 pts
26	Central African Republic	69.2	0 pts
27	Moldova	69	+0.7 pts
28	Thailand	68.9	-0.5 pts
29	Cameroon	68.7	-0.9 pts
30	Oman	67.1	+0.8 pts
31	Kazakhstan	67	-0 pts
32	Singapore	66.9	+0.9 pts
33	China	66.1	-0.3 pts
34	Bolivia	65.4	-0.9 pts
35	Côte d’Ivoire	65.2	+0.4 pts
36	Bahamas	65.1	+1.4 pts
37	Switzerland	64.9	+0.2 pts
38	Paraguay	64.8	+0.3 pts
39	New Zealand	64.7	+0.1 pts
40	South Sudan	64.6	+0.2 pts
41	Ghana	64.5	-2.8 pts
42	Timor-Leste	64.4	-0.1 pts
43	Myanmar	64.2	-0.1 pts
44	Norway	63.7	-0.5 pts
45	Malawi	63.6	-1.6 pts
46	Angola	63.6	-0.3 pts
47	Indonesia	63.6	-0.4 pts
48	Ecuador	63.3	+2.8 pts
49	Malaysia	63.2	+0.1 pts
50	Panama	62.8	-0 pts
51	Zimbabwe	62.6	-0.4 pts
52	Democratic Republic of the Congo	62.4	-0.2 pts
53	Israel	62.2	+0.3 pts
54	Nicaragua	62	0 pts
55	Netherlands	61.9	+0.6 pts
56	Bhutan	61.6	+0.6 pts
57	Trinidad and Tobago	61.5	-0.8 pts
58	Canada	61.3	-0.1 pts
59	Colombia	61.3	+0.2 pts
60	Guinea-Bissau	61.2	0 pts
61	Australia	61.1	+0.3 pts
62	Chad	60.9	-0.5 pts
63	Brunei	60.6	-0.8 pts
64	Belarus	60.5	+0.1 pts
65	Azerbaijan	60.4	+0.7 pts
66	South Korea	60.4	0 pts
67	Honduras	60.2	+0.5 pts
68	Uruguay	60.1	-1.5 pts
69	Jamaica	59.7	+2.8 pts
70	Philippines	59.5	-0.4 pts
71	Russia	59.2	-0.4 pts
72	Sweden	59.2	+0.4 pts
73	Guatemala	59.1	-0 pts
74	Belize	59	+0.8 pts
75	Barbados	59	+0.8 pts
76	United States	59	+0.4 pts
77	Laos	58.8	-0.3 pts
78	United Kingdom	58.8	+0.6 pts
79	Brazil	58.8	-0.9 pts
80	Hong Kong	58.5	+0.1 pts
81	Chile	58.1	+0.2 pts
82	Guam	58.1	+0.4 pts
83	Vanuatu	58	-0.6 pts
84	Mexico	57.9	+0.4 pts
85	Venezuela	57.9	-0 pts
86	Estonia	57.9	+1.3 pts
87	Denmark	57.6	+0.5 pts
88	Costa Rica	57.5	-1.2 pts
89	Japan	57.5	+0.2 pts
90	Germany	57.4	+0.1 pts
91	Dominican Republic	57.3	+1.8 pts
92	Kyrgyzstan	57	+0.2 pts
93	Togo	56.9	-0.1 pts
94	Haiti	56.8	0 pts
95	Mongolia	56.8	-0 pts
96	Austria	56.7	-0 pts
97	Saudi Arabia	56.4	+1.4 pts
98	Czechia	56.4	+0.7 pts
99	El Salvador	56.3	-0.6 pts
100	Equatorial Guinea	56.3	+0.2 pts
101	Mauritius	55.9	+0.4 pts
102	Luxembourg	55.8	+0.4 pts
103	Fiji	55.7	-0.6 pts
104	Ireland	55.7	+1.3 pts
105	Zambia	55.3	+0.3 pts
106	Georgia	55.2	+0.5 pts
107	Saint Lucia	54.9	+0.5 pts
108	Argentina	54.7	-0.4 pts
109	Cyprus	54.5	+0.4 pts
110	Republic of the Congo	54.5	-0.2 pts
111	Cuba	54.2	+0.3 pts
112	New Caledonia	54.2	-0.4 pts
113	Latvia	54.1	+1.3 pts
114	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	54.1	+0.1 pts
115	Bangladesh	54	-0.3 pts
116	Tonga	53.9	-0.4 pts
117	Lithuania	53.8	+1.1 pts
118	Sierra Leone	53.7	-0.6 pts
119	Rwanda	53.5	-0.1 pts
120	Uzbekistan	53.4	+0.2 pts
121	Finland	53.3	-0.4 pts
122	Poland	52.8	+0.9 pts
123	Guinea	52.8	-0.7 pts
124	Slovakia	52.8	-0.1 pts
125	Malta	52.6	+0.6 pts
126	Lesotho	52.6	-1.1 pts
127	Maldives	52.5	+1.1 pts
128	Slovenia	52.4	+0.2 pts
129	Hungary	52.4	+1.6 pts
130	Cape Verde	52.1	-0.1 pts
131	U.S. Virgin Islands	51.8	+2.2 pts
132	Suriname	51.6	+0.4 pts
133	Portugal	51.3	+0.7 pts
134	Sri Lanka	51.2	+1.8 pts
135	Ukraine	51.1	+0.1 pts
136	Botswana	50.4	-0 pts
137	Armenia	50.3	-0.5 pts
138	Pakistan	50.2	+0.1 pts
139	France	49.9	-0.2 pts
140	Samoa	49.8	-0.2 pts
141	French Polynesia	49.4	-0 pts
142	Bulgaria	49.3	+1.5 pts
143	India	49	-0.1 pts
144	Belgium	48.8	-0.2 pts
145	Papua New Guinea	48.6	+0.3 pts
146	Guyana	48.5	-0.3 pts
147	Namibia	48	-1.5 pts
148	Romania	47.7	+0.7 pts
149	Türkiye	46	+0.5 pts
150	Albania	46	+2.2 pts
151	Spain	45.7	+1.3 pts
152	Gambia	44.4	+0.4 pts
153	Comoros	44.2	+1.5 pts
154	Croatia	44.1	+0.9 pts
155	Montenegro	43.2	+0.9 pts
156	Morocco	43	-0.4 pts
157	Afghanistan	42.9	-0.5 pts
158	Italy	42.8	+0.3 pts
159	Lebanon	42.7	+0.2 pts
160	Senegal	42.4	-0.9 pts
161	Serbia	42.2	+0.5 pts
162	Turkmenistan	41.8	-0.2 pts
163	South Africa	40.9	+0.8 pts
164	Egypt	40.8	-1 pts
165	Gabon	40.4	+0.2 pts
166	Tunisia	40.3	-0.5 pts
167	North Macedonia	39.7	+0.5 pts
168	Libya	39.7	-0.2 pts
169	Eswatini	39.2	+0.2 pts
170	Greece	38.4	+0.9 pts
171	Iraq	38.4	-0 pts
172	Sudan	38.2	-0.5 pts
173	Mauritania	37.8	-0.5 pts
174	Algeria	37.7	-0.6 pts
175	Tajikistan	37.3	-0.4 pts
176	Iran	37.3	+0.7 pts
177	Bosnia and Herzegovina	36.1	-0.2 pts
178	Nepal	35.9	-0.1 pts
179	Palestine	33.9	+0.4 pts
180	Puerto Rico	33.5	+0.5 pts
181	Jordan	32.7	+0.7 pts
182	Syria	32.3	+0.2 pts
183	Somalia	27.8	0 pts
184	Yemen	26.3	-5.7 pts
185	Djibouti	24.1	-0.1 pts
186	São Tomé and Príncipe	21.5	+0.2 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

Employed people as a percentage of the population aged 15 and over. ILO modelled estimates published by the World Bank, annual.

A separate series from employment_population_ratio, which is the US civilian series for ages 16 and over from the Current Population Survey. This one covers ages 15 and over for countries and the World.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the countries are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

World Bank, World Development Indicators, modelled estimate. Employment to population ratio, 15+, total, %, modeled ILO estimate (SL.EMP.TOTL.SP.ZS). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.EMP.TOTL.SP.ZS. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

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Questions

Which country has the highest employment-population ratio, ages 15 and over?

Qatar, with 87.1% in 2015, according to the World Bank.

Which country has the lowest employment-population ratio, ages 15 and over?

São Tomé and Príncipe, with 21.5% in 2015.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: World Bank, Employment to population ratio, 15+, total, %, modeled ILO estimate (SL.EMP.TOTL.SP.ZS). Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Employment-population ratio, ages 15 and over: other rankings

EU countries