Countries by employment-population ratio, ages 15 and over

Qatar had the highest employment-population ratio, ages 15 and over of 186 countries in 2018, at 87.4%. São Tomé and Príncipe had the lowest, at 21.7%. The median was 57.3% and the figure for the World was 57.6%. Source: the World Bank.

Highest87.4Qatar

Lowest21.7São Tomé and Príncipe

Median57.3186 countries

World57.6History

Top 40 countries, 2018

%. 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	2018 (%)	Change on 2017
1	Qatar	87.4	0 pts
2	Solomon Islands	83.7	-0 pts
3	Madagascar	83.5	-0.3 pts
4	Tanzania	82.3	0 pts
5	Cambodia	81.8	+0.5 pts
6	North Korea	79.4	+0.2 pts
7	Burundi	79.1	0 pts
8	United Arab Emirates	77.3	+0.5 pts
9	Nigeria	76.9	-0.1 pts
10	Vietnam	76.6	+0.8 pts
11	Mozambique	75.6	-0.2 pts
12	Liberia	74.5	-0 pts
13	Peru	74.5	+0.3 pts
14	Burkina Faso	74.2	-0.3 pts
15	Eritrea	74.2	-0.3 pts
16	Iceland	73.9	-0.9 pts
17	Benin	73.6	+0.6 pts
18	Uganda	72.4	+3.1 pts
19	Niger	72.3	-0.2 pts
20	Kuwait	71.9	+0.2 pts
21	Bahrain	71.2	-0.3 pts
22	Ethiopia	71.1	-1.7 pts
23	Bolivia	69.3	+3.1 pts
24	Oman	69.2	+0.3 pts
25	Central African Republic	69.2	0 pts
26	Macao	68.8	+0.3 pts
27	New Zealand	67.5	+0.3 pts
28	Paraguay	67.4	+0.7 pts
29	Thailand	67.3	+0.3 pts
30	Mali	67.2	-0.9 pts
31	Kenya	67.1	-2.6 pts
32	Bahamas	66.9	-0 pts
33	Kazakhstan	66.7	-0.1 pts
34	Moldova	66.2	-1 pts
35	Singapore	66.1	+0.1 pts
36	Cameroon	65.9	-0.9 pts
37	Switzerland	65.3	+0.1 pts
38	China	64.9	-0.4 pts
39	South Sudan	64.7	+0.1 pts
40	Indonesia	64.7	+0.5 pts
41	Timor-Leste	64.7	+0.5 pts
42	Ecuador	64.3	-1.2 pts
43	Panama	64.1	+1.7 pts
44	Netherlands	63.8	+0.9 pts
45	Côte d’Ivoire	63.5	-0.4 pts
46	Malaysia	63.4	+0.4 pts
47	Norway	63.4	+0.5 pts
48	Ghana	63.2	-1.4 pts
49	Israel	62.9	+0.1 pts
50	Angola	62.8	-0.2 pts
51	Honduras	62.7	+1.9 pts
52	Australia	62.3	+0.7 pts
53	Azerbaijan	62.2	+0.4 pts
54	Jamaica	61.9	+1.1 pts
55	Myanmar	61.9	+0.7 pts
56	Nicaragua	61.8	-1.4 pts
57	Canada	61.7	+0.2 pts
58	Democratic Republic of the Congo	61.5	-0.2 pts
59	Zimbabwe	61.4	-0.4 pts
60	Belarus	61.3	+0.5 pts
61	Belize	61	+1.2 pts
62	Guinea-Bissau	60.9	-0.1 pts
63	Brunei	60.7	+1.5 pts
64	Bhutan	60.5	-0.4 pts
65	Sweden	60.4	+0.3 pts
66	South Korea	60.4	-0.3 pts
67	Barbados	60.2	-0.2 pts
68	Malawi	60.2	-0.1 pts
69	United States	60.2	+0.3 pts
70	Estonia	60.1	+0.5 pts
71	Dominican Republic	60	+1.3 pts
72	United Kingdom	60	+0.4 pts
73	Japan	59.9	+1.2 pts
74	Cyprus	59.8	+2.6 pts
75	Russia	59.4	+0.2 pts
76	Chad	59.3	-0.5 pts
77	Laos	59.2	+1.4 pts
78	Colombia	59.1	-0.9 pts
79	Guatemala	59.1	-0.3 pts
80	Czechia	59	+0.7 pts
81	Trinidad and Tobago	59	-0.5 pts
82	Guam	59	-0 pts
83	Hong Kong	58.9	+0.4 pts
84	Germany	58.8	+0.4 pts
85	Denmark	58.7	+0.5 pts
86	Ireland	58.6	+0.8 pts
87	Mexico	58.5	+0.3 pts
88	Chile	58.4	0 pts
89	Maldives	58.4	+2.4 pts
90	Uruguay	58.4	-0.7 pts
91	Austria	57.9	+0.6 pts
92	Lithuania	57.8	+1.4 pts
93	Philippines	57.6	-0 pts
94	Malta	56.9	+1.6 pts
95	Latvia	56.8	+1.3 pts
96	Haiti	56.7	0 pts
97	Costa Rica	56.6	+1.4 pts
98	Brazil	56.5	+0.3 pts
99	Mongolia	56.5	+1.2 pts
100	Equatorial Guinea	56.5	0 pts
101	El Salvador	56.4	-0 pts
102	Saint Lucia	56.4	+0.3 pts
103	Togo	56.4	+0.5 pts
104	Bangladesh	56.3	+0.5 pts
105	Hungary	56.2	+0.7 pts
106	Vanuatu	56.1	-0.7 pts
107	Luxembourg	56	+0.5 pts
108	Slovenia	55.9	+1.2 pts
109	Georgia	55.8	-0.8 pts
110	Saudi Arabia	55.8	+0.3 pts
111	Slovakia	55.8	+0.8 pts
112	Kyrgyzstan	55.8	+1.4 pts
113	Zambia	55.5	-0.4 pts
114	Mauritius	55.5	-0.4 pts
115	Poland	55.3	+0.6 pts
116	Venezuela	55	-1.9 pts
117	Finland	54.9	+1.3 pts
118	Portugal	54.8	+1.2 pts
119	Fiji	54.8	-0.2 pts
120	Cuba	54.5	-0.1 pts
121	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	54.5	+0.1 pts
122	Argentina	54.1	+0.2 pts
123	Republic of the Congo	53.9	-0.1 pts
124	Rwanda	53.9	+0.6 pts
125	Uzbekistan	53.5	+0.3 pts
126	Tonga	52.8	-0.4 pts
127	Bulgaria	52.4	+0.4 pts
128	Sierra Leone	52.2	-0.5 pts
129	New Caledonia	52	-1.1 pts
130	Albania	52	+1.8 pts
131	Suriname	51.9	+0.2 pts
132	Ukraine	51.4	+0.4 pts
133	Guinea	51	-0.7 pts
134	Botswana	50.7	+0.3 pts
135	Belgium	50.5	+0.9 pts
136	France	50.3	+0.3 pts
137	Armenia	49.7	-0.9 pts
138	Romania	49.7	+0.4 pts
139	Sri Lanka	49.5	-2.3 pts
140	Papua New Guinea	49.5	+0.4 pts
141	French Polynesia	49.2	-0.2 pts
142	Lesotho	49.2	-1.2 pts
143	Pakistan	48.9	-0.8 pts
144	Spain	48.8	+0.8 pts
145	Cape Verde	48.8	-3.1 pts
146	Comoros	48.8	+1.5 pts
147	U.S. Virgin Islands	48.6	-3.7 pts
148	India	48.5	-0.2 pts
149	Guyana	48.2	+0.1 pts
150	Samoa	47.8	-1.5 pts
151	Türkiye	47.4	+0.3 pts
152	Namibia	47.2	+0.5 pts
153	Serbia	47.1	+0.8 pts
154	Croatia	46.7	+1 pts
155	Senegal	46.7	+2.6 pts
156	Gambia	45.8	+0.5 pts
157	Montenegro	45.4	+1.3 pts
158	Italy	44.4	+0.4 pts
159	Lebanon	43.2	+0.2 pts
160	North Macedonia	41.6	+0.6 pts
161	Morocco	41.6	+0.3 pts
162	Turkmenistan	41.2	-0.2 pts
163	Tunisia	41.1	+0.9 pts
164	Greece	41.1	+1 pts
165	Gabon	40.8	+0.1 pts
166	Afghanistan	40.5	-1.5 pts
167	South Africa	40.3	-0.1 pts
168	Bosnia and Herzegovina	40.1	+0.8 pts
169	Libya	40	0 pts
170	Egypt	39	-0.6 pts
171	Iran	39	+0.2 pts
172	Algeria	37.2	-0.1 pts
173	Eswatini	37.2	-1.2 pts
174	Mauritania	36.8	-0.1 pts
175	Sudan	36.2	-0.6 pts
176	Iraq	35.7	-0.7 pts
177	Nepal	35.5	-0.1 pts
178	Tajikistan	35.3	-0.8 pts
179	Puerto Rico	35	+0.9 pts
180	Syria	32.7	+0.1 pts
181	Palestine	32	-0.7 pts
182	Jordan	32	-0.9 pts
183	Somalia	27.7	-0.1 pts
184	Yemen	26.9	+0.4 pts
185	Djibouti	23.7	-0.2 pts
186	São Tomé and Príncipe	21.7	-0.1 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 87.4% in 2018, according to the World Bank.

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

São Tomé and Príncipe, with 21.7% in 2018.

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