Countries by employment-population ratio, ages 15 and over

Qatar had the highest employment-population ratio, ages 15 and over of 185 countries in 2022, at 87.5%. São Tomé and Príncipe had the lowest, at 21.4%. The median was 57.7% and the figure for the World was 57.6%. Source: the World Bank.

Highest87.5Qatar

Lowest21.4São Tomé and Príncipe

Median57.7185 countries

World57.6History

Top 40 countries, 2022

%. 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	2022 (%)	Change on 2021
1	Qatar	87.5	+1.2 pts
2	Solomon Islands	83	-0.1 pts
3	Madagascar	82.7	+0.7 pts
4	Tanzania	82.5	+0.3 pts
5	Cambodia	82.1	+2.9 pts
6	North Korea	79.3	+1.6 pts
7	Niger	79.3	+3.4 pts
8	Burundi	78.4	+0.2 pts
9	Nigeria	78.2	+2.3 pts
10	Uganda	77.7	+1.1 pts
11	Bolivia	75.5	+1.7 pts
12	United Arab Emirates	75	+0.4 pts
13	Benin	75	+0.3 pts
14	Liberia	74.4	+1 pts
15	Eritrea	73.6	+0.7 pts
16	Mozambique	73.5	-0.4 pts
17	Vietnam	73.3	+1.3 pts
18	Kuwait	72.8	+4.3 pts
19	Moldova	71.9	-0.1 pts
20	Iceland	71.6	+2.7 pts
21	Peru	71.3	+3 pts
22	Burkina Faso	69.6	-1.1 pts
23	Bahrain	69.4	+1.5 pts
24	Central African Republic	68.8	+1 pts
25	New Zealand	68.6	+0.9 pts
26	Bahamas	67.3	+5.3 pts
27	Singapore	67.2	-0.2 pts
28	Kazakhstan	66.8	+1.3 pts
29	Thailand	66.5	+0.4 pts
30	Ethiopia	66.2	+0.6 pts
31	Oman	66	+1.5 pts
32	Paraguay	65.8	-0.8 pts
33	Mali	65.6	+1.5 pts
34	Côte d’Ivoire	65.6	+1.1 pts
35	Timor-Leste	65.5	+0.6 pts
36	Laos	65.2	+1.9 pts
37	Macao	65	-2.4 pts
38	Jamaica	64.9	+2.6 pts
39	Netherlands	64.9	+1.1 pts
40	Indonesia	64.7	+1.3 pts
41	Angola	64.6	+0.3 pts
42	Australia	64.4	+1.6 pts
43	South Sudan	64.4	+1.1 pts
44	Switzerland	64.3	-0 pts
45	Norway	63.8	+1 pts
46	Kenya	63.7	+0.1 pts
47	Malaysia	63.6	+1 pts
48	Ecuador	63.4	+0.7 pts
49	Cameroon	63.2	+0.5 pts
50	Guinea-Bissau	63.1	+1.3 pts
51	Cyprus	63	+1.5 pts
52	China	62.5	-1.5 pts
53	Nicaragua	62.4	+1.1 pts
54	Israel	62.3	+2.1 pts
55	South Korea	62	+1.7 pts
56	Canada	61.8	+1.5 pts
57	Malta	61.8	+1.7 pts
58	Belarus	61.8	+0.2 pts
59	Ireland	61.6	+2.1 pts
60	Estonia	61.5	+2.2 pts
61	Democratic Republic of the Congo	61.4	+1.2 pts
62	Azerbaijan	61.1	+1.3 pts
63	Panama	61	+4.5 pts
64	Japan	60.9	+0.6 pts
65	Brunei	60.8	-0 pts
66	Maldives	60.7	+3.9 pts
67	Denmark	60.7	+1.2 pts
68	Barbados	60.6	+5.1 pts
69	Saudi Arabia	60.2	+0.9 pts
70	Malawi	59.9	+0.5 pts
71	Philippines	59.8	+5.3 pts
72	Sweden	59.8	+1.2 pts
73	Dominican Republic	59.7	+1.4 pts
74	United Kingdom	59.6	+0.6 pts
75	Russia	59.5	+0.5 pts
76	United States	59.5	+1.3 pts
77	Bhutan	59.3	-6.4 pts
78	Chad	59.1	+0.7 pts
79	Bangladesh	59	+1.3 pts
80	Lithuania	59	+1.1 pts
81	Mexico	59	+1.4 pts
82	Germany	58.9	+0.7 pts
83	Mongolia	58.9	+2.5 pts
84	Guam	58.8	+2.8 pts
85	Zimbabwe	58.6	-0.5 pts
86	Czechia	58.5	+0.7 pts
87	Guatemala	58.4	-3.2 pts
88	El Salvador	58.3	+1.7 pts
89	Uruguay	58.2	+1.2 pts
90	Luxembourg	58.1	+0.1 pts
91	Saint Lucia	58.1	+6.1 pts
92	Austria	57.8	+1.1 pts
93	Hungary	57.7	+1 pts
94	Brazil	57.7	+3.4 pts
95	Ghana	57.4	-1.1 pts
96	Slovakia	57.4	+1.3 pts
97	Argentina	57.3	+2.2 pts
98	Poland	57.3	+0.5 pts
99	Togo	56.8	+0.4 pts
100	Latvia	56.8	+1.2 pts
101	Slovenia	56.7	+1.1 pts
102	Colombia	56.5	+1.1 pts
103	Finland	56.4	+1.1 pts
104	Kyrgyzstan	56.4	+0.4 pts
105	Georgia	56.3	+2.5 pts
106	Equatorial Guinea	56	+3.4 pts
107	Zambia	56	-1 pts
108	Trinidad and Tobago	55.8	+0.7 pts
109	Vanuatu	55.5	-0 pts
110	Albania	55.5	+2.6 pts
111	Haiti	55.4	-0.3 pts
112	Hong Kong	55.4	-0.4 pts
113	Chile	55.2	+3 pts
114	Uzbekistan	55.1	+2.1 pts
115	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	54.5	+1.4 pts
116	Costa Rica	54.5	+2.1 pts
117	Bulgaria	54.4	+1.9 pts
118	Republic of the Congo	54.3	+3.1 pts
119	Portugal	54.2	+1.2 pts
120	Fiji	54	+2.4 pts
121	Myanmar	53.5	+0.7 pts
122	Honduras	53.5	-2 pts
123	Comoros	53.3	+0.5 pts
124	Belize	53.3	-0.9 pts
125	Cuba	52.7	+1 pts
126	Serbia	52.3	+1.6 pts
127	Mauritius	52	+3.5 pts
128	Sierra Leone	52	+0.3 pts
129	France	51.8	+0.6 pts
130	Belgium	51.5	+0.9 pts
131	New Caledonia	51.4	+0.7 pts
132	Rwanda	51.1	+2.1 pts
133	India	51	+1.8 pts
134	Armenia	50.9	-1.5 pts
135	Papua New Guinea	50.6	+0.5 pts
136	Senegal	50.5	+0.6 pts
137	Tonga	50.3	-0.5 pts
138	Cape Verde	50.2	+3.6 pts
139	Guinea	50.1	+0.5 pts
140	Spain	50.1	+1.3 pts
141	Romania	49.7	+0.1 pts
142	Pakistan	49.6	+0.2 pts
143	Botswana	49.4	+0.2 pts
144	Suriname	49.2	+0.5 pts
145	Croatia	48.9	+0.8 pts
146	Venezuela	48	+2.8 pts
147	Lesotho	47.9	+1.5 pts
148	U.S. Virgin Islands	47.9	+1.6 pts
149	French Polynesia	47.6	+0.2 pts
150	Guyana	47.6	+3.9 pts
151	Türkiye	47.5	+2.3 pts
152	Sri Lanka	47.5	+0.1 pts
153	Namibia	47.4	+2.7 pts
154	Montenegro	47.2	+7.1 pts
155	Greece	45.4	+2.4 pts
156	North Macedonia	45.3	+1.8 pts
157	Italy	45.1	+1.2 pts
158	Gambia	44.7	0 pts
159	Bosnia and Herzegovina	42.7	+2 pts
160	Samoa	41.5	-1 pts
161	Gabon	41.1	+2.9 pts
162	Turkmenistan	40.5	+0.7 pts
163	Morocco	40.1	-0.4 pts
164	Egypt	40	+0.2 pts
165	Libya	39.4	+2.9 pts
166	Puerto Rico	39.3	+1.3 pts
167	Tunisia	39.3	+1.6 pts
168	Lebanon	38.6	-1.1 pts
169	Iran	36.9	-0.4 pts
170	Mauritania	36.6	+0.5 pts
171	Algeria	36.6	+3.4 pts
172	South Africa	35.7	+1.4 pts
173	Nepal	35.2	+0.5 pts
174	Tajikistan	35.2	+0.9 pts
175	Iraq	35.1	+1.8 pts
176	Sudan	34.7	+0.6 pts
177	Palestine	34	+2.1 pts
178	Syria	32.4	+1.5 pts
179	Afghanistan	32.3	-3.5 pts
180	Eswatini	32	-0.7 pts
181	Jordan	31.5	+0.5 pts
182	Somalia	27.4	+0.3 pts
183	Yemen	27.3	+0.9 pts
184	Djibouti	23.4	+0.4 pts
185	São Tomé and Príncipe	21.4	+0.3 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. 1 countries with data in other periods have no value for 2022 and are left out rather than filled from another source. 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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Rank Countries by employment-population ratio, ages 15 and over using official data, and cite the source.

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Questions

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

Qatar, with 87.5% in 2022, according to the World Bank.

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

São Tomé and Príncipe, with 21.4% in 2022.

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. 1 countries have no value for 2022 and are not ranked.

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

EU countries