Countries by labor force participation rate, ages 15 and over

Qatar had the highest labor force participation rate, ages 15 and over of 183 countries in 2023, at 87.6%. São Tomé and Príncipe had the lowest, at 23.4%. The median was 61.8% and the figure for the World was 61.2%. Source: the World Bank.

Highest87.6Qatar

Lowest23.4São Tomé and Príncipe

Median61.8183 countries

World61.2History

Top 40 countries, 2023

%. 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	2023 (%)	Change on 2022
1	Qatar	87.6	-0 pts
2	Madagascar	85.5	0 pts
3	Solomon Islands	84.3	-0 pts
4	Tanzania	83.8	-0 pts
5	Nigeria	82.6	+1.3 pts
6	Cambodia	82.3	0 pts
7	North Korea	82.2	0 pts
8	Uganda	80	-0 pts
9	Niger	79.6	-0.1 pts
10	Mozambique	78.8	-0 pts
11	Burundi	78.8	-0.3 pts
12	Bolivia	78.4	+0.1 pts
13	United Arab Emirates	78.4	+1.1 pts
14	Eritrea	78.3	-0 pts
15	Liberia	76.6	-0 pts
16	Benin	76.3	-0 pts
17	Angola	74.9	-0.4 pts
18	Iceland	74.7	+0.3 pts
19	Bahamas	74.1	-0 pts
20	Kuwait	74	-0.4 pts
21	Vietnam	73.5	-0.9 pts
22	Central African Republic	73.4	-0 pts
23	South Sudan	73.4	-0.1 pts
24	Peru	72.7	-1.8 pts
25	New Zealand	71.5	+0.6 pts
26	Burkina Faso	71.2	-1.1 pts
27	Moldova	70.8	-1.7 pts
28	Paraguay	70.8	+0.2 pts
29	Bahrain	70.7	+0.4 pts
30	Kazakhstan	70.4	+0.2 pts
31	Jamaica	69.5	+1.8 pts
32	Singapore	69.4	-0.3 pts
33	Saint Lucia	68.6	-0.6 pts
34	Ethiopia	68.5	-0 pts
35	Oman	68.3	+0.1 pts
36	Botswana	68.3	+3.7 pts
37	Macao	68	+1.3 pts
38	Cyprus	67.9	+0.3 pts
39	Indonesia	67.9	+0.9 pts
40	Republic of the Congo	67.9	-0 pts
41	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	67.9	+0.3 pts
42	Thailand	67.8	+0.6 pts
43	Zimbabwe	67.8	+2.6 pts
44	Netherlands	67.7	+0.5 pts
45	Kenya	67.5	-0 pts
46	Switzerland	67.5	+0.4 pts
47	Mali	67.2	-0 pts
48	Côte d’Ivoire	67.1	-0 pts
49	Australia	67	+0.1 pts
50	Timor-Leste	66.6	0 pts
51	Ireland	66.2	+1.7 pts
52	Malaysia	66.2	-0 pts
53	Laos	66	-0 pts
54	Norway	65.9	-0 pts
55	Nicaragua	65.9	+0.3 pts
56	China	65.8	0 pts
57	Estonia	65.6	+0.5 pts
58	Cameroon	65.6	-0 pts
59	Canada	65.4	+0.1 pts
60	Saudi Arabia	65.3	+1.5 pts
61	Panama	65.1	-1.2 pts
62	Israel	65.1	+0.3 pts
63	Barbados	65	-0.3 pts
64	Bhutan	65	+1.9 pts
65	Sweden	64.9	+0.4 pts
66	Guinea-Bissau	64.8	-0 pts
67	Brunei	64.7	+0.7 pts
68	Uruguay	64.6	+1.4 pts
69	Ecuador	64.5	-1.3 pts
70	Haiti	64.5	-0.3 pts
71	Democratic Republic of the Congo	64.4	0 pts
72	Azerbaijan	64.3	-0.4 pts
73	Malta	64.3	+0.3 pts
74	Dominican Republic	64.3	+1.1 pts
75	South Korea	64.3	+0.5 pts
76	Georgia	64	+0.4 pts
77	Albania	63.9	+1.7 pts
78	Denmark	63.8	+0.2 pts
79	Colombia	63.7	+0.6 pts
80	Rwanda	63.7	+3.5 pts
81	Belarus	63.6	-0.5 pts
82	Maldives	63.3	-0.1 pts
83	Malawi	63	-0.1 pts
84	Brazil	62.9	-0.6 pts
85	Japan	62.9	+0.4 pts
86	Lithuania	62.9	+0.1 pts
87	Argentina	62.3	+0.8 pts
88	Guam	62.2	0 pts
89	Russia	62.1	+0.2 pts
90	United States	62.1	+0.3 pts
91	Zambia	62	+2.4 pts
92	United Kingdom	61.8	-0.1 pts
93	Mexico	61.7	+0.8 pts
94	El Salvador	61.6	+1.5 pts
95	Luxembourg	61.5	+0.6 pts
96	Chile	61.5	+1.4 pts
97	Philippines	61.4	-0 pts
98	Slovakia	61.2	0 pts
99	Equatorial Guinea	61.1	0 pts
100	Germany	61.1	+0.2 pts
101	Latvia	61	0 pts
102	Bangladesh	60.9	-1 pts
103	Austria	60.9	-0 pts
104	Mongolia	60.8	-1.8 pts
105	Hungary	60.6	+0.8 pts
106	Czechia	60.4	+0.6 pts
107	Finland	60.3	-0.1 pts
108	Armenia	60	+1.2 pts
109	Chad	59.7	-0.1 pts
110	Guatemala	59.6	-0.7 pts
111	Trinidad and Tobago	59.3	+0.9 pts
112	Poland	59.2	+0.3 pts
113	Ghana	59.1	-0 pts
114	Mauritius	59	+3.4 pts
115	Namibia	58.9	-0 pts
116	Montenegro	58.6	+3.1 pts
117	Portugal	58.6	+0.8 pts
118	Vanuatu	58.4	-0 pts
119	Serbia	58.1	+1 pts
120	Slovenia	58.1	-1 pts
121	Togo	57.9	-0 pts
122	Uzbekistan	57.7	+0.1 pts
123	Belize	57.6	-0.7 pts
124	Spain	57.6	0 pts
125	Lesotho	57.5	-0 pts
126	New Caledonia	57.2	-0.3 pts
127	Hong Kong	57.2	-0.6 pts
128	Fiji	57.2	+0.1 pts
129	Cape Verde	57.1	-0.1 pts
130	Kyrgyzstan	56.9	-2.3 pts
131	Bulgaria	56.9	+0.2 pts
132	Costa Rica	56.8	-4.7 pts
133	Honduras	56.5	-2.2 pts
134	France	55.9	+0.1 pts
135	Comoros	55.4	-0 pts
136	Myanmar	55.2	-0 pts
137	South Africa	55	+1.5 pts
138	Guyana	54.7	+0.7 pts
139	India	54.7	+1.1 pts
140	U.S. Virgin Islands	54.6	0 pts
141	Belgium	54.4	-0.2 pts
142	Sierra Leone	53.6	-0 pts
143	Suriname	53.6	+0.2 pts
144	French Polynesia	53.4	-0.6 pts
145	Türkiye	53.3	+0.3 pts
146	Cuba	53.2	-0.5 pts
147	Guinea	52.8	-0 pts
148	Pakistan	52.4	-0 pts
149	Croatia	52.3	-0.3 pts
150	Papua New Guinea	52	-0 pts
151	Senegal	51.9	-0.1 pts
152	Greece	51.8	-0 pts
153	North Macedonia	51.8	-1.2 pts
154	Romania	51.7	-0.9 pts
155	Gabon	51.5	-0.1 pts
156	Venezuela	51.4	+0.5 pts
157	Eswatini	51.2	+0.8 pts
158	Tonga	50.6	-0.8 pts
159	Italy	49.8	+0.8 pts
160	Bosnia and Herzegovina	49.4	+0.6 pts
161	Libya	48.5	-0.2 pts
162	Gambia	47.5	-0 pts
163	Sri Lanka	47.4	-2.3 pts
164	Tunisia	45.8	-0.6 pts
165	Egypt	44.7	+1.8 pts
166	Morocco	44.2	-0.1 pts
167	Samoa	43.4	-0.3 pts
168	Lebanon	43.4	0 pts
169	Puerto Rico	42.1	+0.3 pts
170	Turkmenistan	42	-0.2 pts
171	Iraq	41.6	+0.1 pts
172	Iran	41.5	+1 pts
173	Algeria	41.5	-0.3 pts
174	Mauritania	40.9	-0 pts
175	Jordan	40.1	+1.6 pts
176	Nepal	39.4	-0 pts
177	Tajikistan	38.1	+0.3 pts
178	Afghanistan	37.6	-0.1 pts
179	Syria	37.1	-0.2 pts
180	Somalia	33.9	-0 pts
181	Yemen	33.1	+0.1 pts
182	Djibouti	31.8	-0 pts
183	São Tomé and Príncipe	23.4	-0.1 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. 3 countries with data in other periods have no value for 2023 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. 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 87.6% in 2023, according to the World Bank.

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

São Tomé and Príncipe, with 23.4% in 2023.

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. 3 countries have no value for 2023 and are not ranked.

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

EU countries