Countries by labor force participation rate, ages 15 and over

Qatar had the highest labor force participation rate, ages 15 and over of 186 countries in 2014, at 86.7%. São Tomé and Príncipe had the lowest, at 24%. The median was 61.4% and the figure for the World was 61.8%. Source: the World Bank.

Highest86.7Qatar

Lowest24São Tomé and Príncipe

Median61.4186 countries

World61.8History

Top 40 countries, 2014

%. Source: World Bank (modelled estimate), Labor force participation rate, total, % of total population ages 15+, modeled ILO estimate (SL.TLF.CACT.ZS). Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Full ranking

Rank	Countries	2014 (%)	Change on 2013
1	Qatar	86.7	+0.5 pts
2	Madagascar	86.2	-0.1 pts
3	Solomon Islands	84.4	+0.1 pts
4	Tanzania	84	-0.6 pts
5	North Korea	82.1	-0 pts
6	Nigeria	80.8	-0.1 pts
7	Cambodia	80.3	+0.1 pts
8	Mozambique	79.7	-0.7 pts
9	Ethiopia	79.6	-1.6 pts
10	Eritrea	79.1	-0.2 pts
11	Burundi	78.9	+0.1 pts
12	Burkina Faso	78.9	-0.2 pts
13	United Arab Emirates	77.7	+0.3 pts
14	Vietnam	77.3	+0.1 pts
15	Uganda	77.2	-7.3 pts
16	Peru	77.1	-0.8 pts
17	Liberia	77	0 pts
18	Angola	76.5	-0.3 pts
19	Iceland	76	+1.1 pts
20	Kenya	74.2	+0.1 pts
21	Bahamas	73.9	0 pts
22	South Sudan	73.7	+0.1 pts
23	Niger	73.6	-2.1 pts
24	Central African Republic	73.3	+0.2 pts
25	Benin	73.1	+0.4 pts
26	Cameroon	72.1	-1.1 pts
27	Kuwait	71.8	+0.5 pts
28	Macao	71.4	+0.5 pts
29	Bahrain	71.2	-0.4 pts
30	Mali	70.6	0 pts
31	Kazakhstan	70.5	-0.1 pts
32	Ghana	70.5	-1.2 pts
33	Thailand	69.8	-0.2 pts
34	China	69.7	-0.3 pts
35	Saint Lucia	69.3	0 pts
36	Moldova	69.3	+4 pts
37	Oman	68.6	+0.8 pts
38	Malawi	68.6	-1.6 pts
39	Singapore	68.6	+0.8 pts
40	New Zealand	68.3	+0.9 pts
41	Republic of the Congo	68	+0.1 pts
42	Switzerland	68	+0.4 pts
43	Paraguay	68	-1.9 pts
44	Bolivia	67.7	-0.2 pts
45	Côte d’Ivoire	67.1	-0.1 pts
46	Colombia	67	-0.3 pts
47	Timor-Leste	67	-0.2 pts
48	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	66.8	+0.1 pts
49	Indonesia	66.6	-0.1 pts
50	Norway	66.6	-0.4 pts
51	Barbados	66.3	-2 pts
52	Georgia	66.3	-0.2 pts
53	Netherlands	66.2	-0.6 pts
53	Zimbabwe	66.2	0 pts
55	Canada	66	-0.5 pts
56	Brunei	65.9	-0.2 pts
57	Uruguay	65.9	+1 pts
58	Haiti	65.9	0 pts
59	Panama	65.7	-0 pts
60	Israel	65.6	+0.5 pts
61	Democratic Republic of the Congo	65.5	-0.2 pts
62	Nicaragua	65	+0.3 pts
63	Malaysia	65	+1 pts
64	Myanmar	64.8	-0.2 pts
65	Australia	64.8	-0.2 pts
66	Cyprus	64.6	+0.6 pts
67	Costa Rica	64.2	+0.5 pts
68	Honduras	64.2	+1.5 pts
69	Belarus	64.1	+0.2 pts
70	Brazil	64	-0.3 pts
71	Lesotho	64	-1.2 pts
72	Trinidad and Tobago	63.9	+0.2 pts
73	New Caledonia	63.9	-0.2 pts
73	Sweden	63.9	0 pts
75	Belize	63.5	+0.9 pts
76	Guinea-Bissau	63.2	-0.1 pts
77	Russia	62.8	-0 pts
78	Azerbaijan	62.8	+0.9 pts
79	Ecuador	62.6	+0.4 pts
80	Bhutan	62.6	-2.7 pts
81	Jamaica	62.5	+0.7 pts
82	United States	62.4	-0.3 pts
83	Guam	62.4	-0.1 pts
84	South Korea	62.3	+0.9 pts
85	Philippines	62.2	+0.7 pts
86	Venezuela	62.2	-0.5 pts
87	United Kingdom	62.1	+0.1 pts
88	Chile	62.1	+0.3 pts
89	Chad	62.1	-0.5 pts
90	Botswana	61.9	+0.3 pts
91	Vanuatu	61.9	-0.6 pts
92	Ireland	61.7	-0.2 pts
93	Armenia	61.5	-0 pts
94	Denmark	61.3	-0.2 pts
95	Estonia	61.1	-0.2 pts
96	Namibia	60.8	-0.9 pts
97	Equatorial Guinea	60.7	+0.3 pts
98	Guatemala	60.7	+0.5 pts
99	Rwanda	60.7	-0.1 pts
100	Mexico	60.5	-0.6 pts
101	Germany	60.4	+0.1 pts
102	Hong Kong	60.3	-0.2 pts
103	Austria	60.2	-0.2 pts
104	Laos	60.1	-0.1 pts
105	Mauritius	60	+0.3 pts
106	Slovakia	59.8	+0.5 pts
107	Mongolia	59.6	+0.1 pts
108	Dominican Republic	59.5	+0.3 pts
109	Argentina	59.4	-0.5 pts
110	Japan	59.4	+0.2 pts
111	El Salvador	59.4	-1.1 pts
112	Czechia	59.3	0 pts
113	Latvia	59.2	-0.1 pts
114	Kyrgyzstan	59.2	+0.7 pts
115	Cape Verde	59.2	0 pts
116	Luxembourg	59	+0.4 pts
117	Lithuania	58.9	+0.9 pts
118	Fiji	58.9	-1.4 pts
119	Zambia	58.8	-0.1 pts
120	Portugal	58.8	-0.5 pts
121	Finland	58.7	-0.4 pts
122	Spain	58.7	-0.4 pts
123	Saudi Arabia	58.4	+1.3 pts
124	Togo	58.2	-0 pts
125	Slovenia	57.9	+0.2 pts
126	Poland	57.1	+0.3 pts
127	Sierra Leone	56.9	-1 pts
128	Bangladesh	56.8	-0.4 pts
129	Guinea	56.4	-0.7 pts
130	Ukraine	56.3	0 pts
131	U.S. Virgin Islands	56.3	-0.7 pts
132	Uzbekistan	56.1	+0.2 pts
133	French Polynesia	56	-0.1 pts
134	Guyana	55.9	-0.1 pts
135	France	55.8	-0.5 pts
136	Maldives	55.5	+0.7 pts
137	Cuba	55.4	+0.1 pts
138	Tonga	55.4	-0.3 pts
139	Malta	55.2	+1.1 pts
140	Hungary	55	+1.5 pts
141	Suriname	55	+0.6 pts
142	Samoa	54.8	-0 pts
143	North Macedonia	54.6	-0.1 pts
144	Bulgaria	54	0 pts
145	Belgium	53.6	-0 pts
146	Albania	53.4	+1 pts
147	South Africa	53.3	+0.2 pts
148	India	53.2	-0.2 pts
149	Croatia	52.2	+1.4 pts
150	Montenegro	51.6	+2.2 pts
151	Serbia	51.6	+0.4 pts
152	Sri Lanka	51.6	-0.5 pts
153	Eswatini	51.4	-0.1 pts
154	Greece	51.2	-0.3 pts
155	Pakistan	51	-0.5 pts
156	Romania	50.5	+0.4 pts
157	Türkiye	50.5	-0.3 pts
158	Gabon	50.2	+0.3 pts
159	Bosnia and Herzegovina	50.1	-0.3 pts
160	Papua New Guinea	49.5	+0.1 pts
161	Libya	49.4	+0.1 pts
162	Italy	48.7	+0.2 pts
163	Egypt	48.1	-0.3 pts
164	Morocco	48.1	-0.3 pts
165	Gambia	47.9	-0.1 pts
166	Tunisia	47.6	-0.2 pts
167	Afghanistan	47.1	+0.1 pts
168	Lebanon	46.6	+0.5 pts
169	Senegal	46	-0.5 pts
170	Sudan	45.7	-1.1 pts
171	Comoros	44.5	+0.3 pts
172	Turkmenistan	43.8	-0.5 pts
173	Iraq	42.9	+1 pts
174	Algeria	42.6	-0.3 pts
175	Mauritania	42.6	-0.5 pts
176	Palestine	42.1	+0.3 pts
177	Iran	40.9	-0.3 pts
178	Tajikistan	40.5	-0.4 pts
179	Nepal	40.3	-0.2 pts
180	Puerto Rico	38.3	-1 pts
181	Syria	37.7	-0.1 pts
182	Yemen	37	-0.6 pts
183	Jordan	36.4	-0.7 pts
184	Somalia	34.2	-0 pts
185	Djibouti	32.7	-0.1 pts
186	São Tomé and Príncipe	24	-0 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

The labor force, comprising employed and unemployed people, as a percentage of the population aged 15 and over. ILO modelled estimates published by the World Bank, annual.

A separate series from labor_force_participation_rate, 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. Labor force participation rate, total, % of total population ages 15+, modeled ILO estimate (SL.TLF.CACT.ZS). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.CACT.ZS. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank Countries by labor force participation rate, ages 15 and over using official data, and cite the source.

rank_places {"indicator":"labor_force_participation_rate_15_plus","level":"country","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=labor_force_participation_rate_15_plus&level=country&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which country has the highest labor force participation rate, ages 15 and over?

Qatar, with 86.7% in 2014, according to the World Bank.

Which country has the lowest labor force participation rate, ages 15 and over?

São Tomé and Príncipe, with 24% in 2014.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: World Bank, Labor force participation rate, total, % of total population ages 15+, modeled ILO estimate (SL.TLF.CACT.ZS). Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Labor force participation rate, ages 15 and over: other rankings

EU countries