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 2020, at 87.1%. São Tomé and Príncipe had the lowest, at 23.1%. The median was 60.3% and the figure for the World was 59.6%. Source: the World Bank.

Highest87.1Qatar

Lowest23.1São Tomé and Príncipe

Median60.3186 countries

World59.6History

Top 40 countries, 2020

%. 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	2020 (%)	Change on 2019
1	Qatar	87.1	-0.3 pts
2	Madagascar	84.6	-0.8 pts
3	Solomon Islands	83.5	-0.8 pts
4	Tanzania	82.8	-1 pts
5	Cambodia	82.2	-0.2 pts
6	North Korea	80.6	-1.6 pts
7	Nigeria	79.3	-1.7 pts
8	United Arab Emirates	78.8	-0.7 pts
9	Burundi	78.5	-1.2 pts
10	Mozambique	78.1	-0.8 pts
11	Uganda	78	+0.8 pts
12	Eritrea	77.5	-0.9 pts
13	Liberia	76.1	-0.7 pts
14	Burkina Faso	75.2	-2.4 pts
15	Benin	74.8	-0.3 pts
16	Vietnam	74.4	-2.2 pts
17	Niger	74.1	+1.7 pts
18	Iceland	73.6	-2.1 pts
19	Angola	73.3	-1.7 pts
20	South Sudan	73.2	-0.7 pts
21	Central African Republic	72.7	-0.7 pts
22	Bolivia	72.3	-1.9 pts
23	Paraguay	70.1	-2.3 pts
24	New Zealand	69.9	-0.3 pts
25	Moldova	69.7	+0.3 pts
26	Ethiopia	69.4	-2.2 pts
27	Bahrain	69.2	-2.2 pts
28	Kazakhstan	69.2	-0.9 pts
29	Kuwait	69.2	-4.1 pts
30	Peru	68.9	-8.4 pts
31	Singapore	68.7	-0.3 pts
32	Macao	68.7	-1.1 pts
33	Malawi	68.3	+5 pts
34	Bahamas	68.1	-6.3 pts
35	Switzerland	68	-0.3 pts
36	Bhutan	67.8	+1.5 pts
37	Indonesia	67.4	-0.8 pts
38	Azerbaijan	67.2	+2 pts
39	Kenya	67.1	-0.7 pts
40	Thailand	67	+0.1 pts
41	Netherlands	66.5	-0.2 pts
42	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	66.5	-0.9 pts
43	Panama	66.4	-2.1 pts
44	Oman	66	-3.8 pts
45	Timor-Leste	65.9	-0.6 pts
46	Cameroon	65.9	-1.5 pts
46	Mali	65.9	-1.5 pts
48	Cyprus	65.7	-0.4 pts
49	China	65.7	-1.7 pts
50	Norway	65.7	-0.3 pts
51	Malaysia	65.5	-0.4 pts
52	Haiti	65.2	-0.6 pts
53	Australia	65	-1.1 pts
54	Republic of the Congo	64.9	-3.2 pts
55	Côte d’Ivoire	64.9	+0.2 pts
56	Jamaica	64.8	-2.1 pts
57	Zimbabwe	64.7	-1.1 pts
58	Nicaragua	64.4	-0.6 pts
59	Sweden	64.2	-0.4 pts
60	Canada	64.1	-1.7 pts
61	Belarus	64	-0.2 pts
62	Brunei	64	-0.8 pts
63	Democratic Republic of the Congo	63.4	-0.9 pts
64	Mongolia	63.4	-2.2 pts
65	Colombia	63.4	-0.9 pts
66	Israel	63.4	-1.6 pts
67	Georgia	63.4	+0.5 pts
68	Barbados	63.1	-1.8 pts
69	Estonia	63	-0.1 pts
70	Laos	62.9	+0.7 pts
71	Rwanda	62.7	+4.2 pts
72	Lithuania	62.7	+0.6 pts
73	United Kingdom	62.6	-0.1 pts
74	Guinea-Bissau	62.5	+0.3 pts
75	Saudi Arabia	62.4	+1.2 pts
76	South Korea	62.3	-0.7 pts
77	Denmark	62.1	-0.3 pts
78	Japan	61.9	-0.1 pts
79	Ghana	61.6	-2.1 pts
80	Latvia	61.6	+0.5 pts
81	United States	61.6	-1.3 pts
82	Malta	61.5	+1.2 pts
83	Russia	61.4	-0.3 pts
84	Botswana	61.3	-2.2 pts
85	Armenia	61.3	+2.5 pts
86	Uruguay	61.1	-2.4 pts
87	Ireland	61.1	-1.2 pts
88	Zambia	60.9	+1.3 pts
89	Costa Rica	60.6	-3.6 pts
90	Brazil	60.5	-4.4 pts
91	Germany	60.5	-0.8 pts
92	Dominican Republic	60.4	-4.8 pts
93	Austria	60.4	-0.5 pts
94	Myanmar	60.2	-0.4 pts
95	Luxembourg	60.1	+0.1 pts
96	Ecuador	60	-6.1 pts
97	Bangladesh	59.8	+0.3 pts
98	Honduras	59.5	-3.7 pts
99	Czechia	59.5	-0.7 pts
100	Chad	59.4	-0.6 pts
101	Albania	59.4	-0.9 pts
102	Guam	59.2	-3.1 pts
103	Hong Kong	59	-1 pts
104	Slovakia	58.9	-0.6 pts
105	Finland	58.8	-0.3 pts
106	Guatemala	58.8	-0.4 pts
107	Trinidad and Tobago	58.6	-2 pts
108	Hungary	58.4	-0 pts
109	Maldives	58.3	-5.3 pts
110	Vanuatu	58	-0.6 pts
111	Slovenia	57.8	-0.6 pts
112	New Caledonia	57.7	0 pts
113	Portugal	57.6	-1.4 pts
114	Togo	57.4	-0.6 pts
115	Poland	57.4	-0.1 pts
116	Kyrgyzstan	57.3	-1.6 pts
117	Lesotho	57.1	-0.5 pts
118	Equatorial Guinea	57	-4.2 pts
119	El Salvador	56.5	-3.4 pts
120	Mexico	56.4	-4.7 pts
121	Spain	56.4	-1.2 pts
122	Chile	56.4	-6.7 pts
123	Argentina	56	-4.3 pts
124	Namibia	56	-2.9 pts
125	Bulgaria	55.9	-0.8 pts
126	Mauritius	55.7	-4 pts
127	Uzbekistan	55.5	-1.1 pts
128	Ukraine	55.1	-1.2 pts
129	Philippines	54.7	-4.7 pts
130	Belize	54.7	-15 pts
131	French Polynesia	54.5	-0.9 pts
132	France	54.3	-0.7 pts
133	Fiji	54	-3.4 pts
134	Saint Lucia	53.7	-15.1 pts
135	Comoros	53.5	+1.1 pts
136	Cape Verde	53.4	-4 pts
137	Belgium	53.4	-0.5 pts
138	Serbia	53.4	-0.7 pts
139	Sierra Leone	53.3	-0.5 pts
140	Suriname	52.7	-3.7 pts
141	Cuba	52.6	-2.7 pts
142	U.S. Virgin Islands	52.5	+0.2 pts
143	Tonga	52.4	-1.1 pts
144	Guinea	52.4	-0.5 pts
145	North Macedonia	52.1	-0.9 pts
146	Romania	52	-0 pts
147	Pakistan	51.6	-0 pts
148	India	51.5	-0.7 pts
149	Papua New Guinea	51	-0.1 pts
150	Croatia	51	+0.1 pts
151	Guyana	50.7	-1.3 pts
152	Senegal	50.7	0 pts
153	South Africa	50.5	-4.7 pts
154	Sri Lanka	50.5	-1.8 pts
155	Montenegro	50.4	-4.2 pts
156	Greece	50.1	-0.8 pts
157	Eswatini	49.5	-0.7 pts
158	Türkiye	49.3	-3.6 pts
159	Italy	48.2	-1.4 pts
160	Venezuela	48.2	-7 pts
161	Gabon	47.9	-3.5 pts
162	Gambia	47.7	-0.1 pts
163	Samoa	47.6	-2.6 pts
164	Bosnia and Herzegovina	47.5	-1.3 pts
165	Lebanon	47.4	-1.4 pts
166	Tunisia	45.5	-4.2 pts
167	Libya	45	-4.2 pts
168	Morocco	44.5	-1.6 pts
169	Egypt	41.6	-0.6 pts
170	Afghanistan	41.6	-2.2 pts
171	Turkmenistan	41.5	-1.2 pts
172	Iran	41.4	-2.7 pts
173	Palestine	40.9	-3.3 pts
174	Mauritania	40.5	-0.5 pts
175	Iraq	40.3	-0.2 pts
176	Jordan	39.9	+0.7 pts
177	Nepal	39.4	-0.4 pts
178	Puerto Rico	39.2	+0.7 pts
179	Sudan	39.1	-1.3 pts
180	Algeria	38	-4.2 pts
181	Tajikistan	36.8	-0.4 pts
182	Syria	35.9	-1.9 pts
183	Somalia	33.7	-0.3 pts
184	Yemen	32.5	-0.2 pts
185	Djibouti	31.6	-0.4 pts
186	São Tomé and Príncipe	23.1	-0.6 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.

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

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Questions

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

Qatar, with 87.1% in 2020, according to the World Bank.

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

São Tomé and Príncipe, with 23.1% in 2020.

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