Countries by labor force participation rate, ages 15 and over

Qatar had the highest labor force participation rate, ages 15 and over of 181 countries in 2024, at 87.2%. São Tomé and Príncipe had the lowest, at 23.4%. The median was 61.9% and the figure for the World was 61.1%. Source: the World Bank.

Highest87.2Qatar

Lowest23.4São Tomé and Príncipe

Median61.9181 countries

World61.1History

Top 40 countries, 2024

%. 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	2024 (%)	Change on 2023
1	Qatar	87.2	-0.3 pts
2	Madagascar	85.5	0 pts
3	Solomon Islands	84.3	-0 pts
4	Tanzania	83.7	-0 pts
5	Nigeria	82.6	0 pts
6	Cambodia	82.4	0 pts
7	North Korea	82.2	0 pts
8	Uganda	80	-0 pts
9	Niger	79.6	0 pts
10	Mozambique	78.8	-0 pts
11	Burundi	78.5	-0.3 pts
12	United Arab Emirates	78.5	+0.1 pts
13	Eritrea	78.3	-0 pts
14	Bolivia	78.3	-0 pts
15	Liberia	76.6	-0 pts
16	Benin	76.3	-0 pts
17	Iceland	75.2	+0.4 pts
18	Angola	74.9	-0 pts
19	Bahamas	74	-0.1 pts
20	Kuwait	73.6	-0.4 pts
21	Central African Republic	73.4	-0 pts
22	Vietnam	73.1	-0.4 pts
23	Peru	72.8	+0.1 pts
24	Moldova	72.2	+1.4 pts
25	Kazakhstan	70.6	+0.2 pts
26	Bahrain	70.6	-0.1 pts
27	New Zealand	70.6	-1 pts
28	Paraguay	70.3	-0.5 pts
29	Burkina Faso	70.1	-1.1 pts
30	Jamaica	69.4	-0 pts
31	Singapore	69.2	-0.2 pts
32	Botswana	68.6	+0.3 pts
33	Ethiopia	68.5	0 pts
34	Oman	68.3	-0 pts
35	Macao	68.3	+0.3 pts
36	Saint Lucia	68.2	-0.3 pts
37	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	68	+0.2 pts
38	Indonesia	67.9	0 pts
39	Republic of the Congo	67.8	-0.1 pts
40	Zimbabwe	67.7	-0.1 pts
41	Netherlands	67.5	-0.3 pts
42	Kenya	67.4	-0 pts
43	Cyprus	67.2	-0.8 pts
44	Mali	67.2	-0 pts
45	Thailand	67.1	-0.7 pts
46	Côte d’Ivoire	67.1	-0 pts
47	Switzerland	67.1	-0.4 pts
48	Timor-Leste	66.8	+0.2 pts
49	Australia	66.7	-0.3 pts
50	Panama	66.3	+1.2 pts
51	Malaysia	66.1	-0.1 pts
52	Nicaragua	66	+0.1 pts
53	Laos	66	-0 pts
54	Norway	65.8	-0.1 pts
55	Cameroon	65.5	-0 pts
56	Israel	65.5	+0.4 pts
57	Estonia	65.4	-0.2 pts
58	Saudi Arabia	65.2	-0.1 pts
59	Denmark	65	+1.3 pts
60	Uruguay	65	+0.4 pts
61	Ireland	65	-1.2 pts
62	Barbados	65	-0 pts
63	China	64.9	-0.9 pts
64	Bhutan	64.9	-0.1 pts
65	Guinea-Bissau	64.8	-0 pts
66	Canada	64.7	-0.6 pts
67	Sweden	64.7	-0.2 pts
68	Dominican Republic	64.6	+0.4 pts
69	Ecuador	64.5	+0.1 pts
70	Brunei	64.5	-0.2 pts
71	South Korea	64.5	+0.2 pts
72	Democratic Republic of the Congo	64.4	0 pts
73	Georgia	64.3	+0.3 pts
74	Malta	64.2	-0.1 pts
75	Albania	64	+0.1 pts
76	Haiti	64	-0.5 pts
77	Azerbaijan	63.9	-0.4 pts
78	Colombia	63.5	-0.2 pts
79	Rwanda	63.5	-0.1 pts
80	Brazil	63.3	+0.4 pts
81	Japan	63.3	+0.4 pts
82	Belarus	63.3	-0.3 pts
83	Maldives	63.2	-0.1 pts
84	Lithuania	63.1	+0.2 pts
85	Malawi	62.9	-0.1 pts
86	Chile	62.3	+0.8 pts
87	Guam	62.3	0 pts
88	United States	62	-0.1 pts
89	El Salvador	61.9	+0.4 pts
90	Zambia	61.9	-0.1 pts
91	Argentina	61.9	-0.4 pts
92	Russia	61.8	-0.3 pts
93	Luxembourg	61.8	+0.2 pts
94	Mexico	61.6	-0.1 pts
95	United Kingdom	61.6	-0.3 pts
96	Philippines	61.4	-0 pts
97	Germany	60.9	-0.1 pts
98	Equatorial Guinea	60.9	-0.2 pts
99	Latvia	60.8	-0.1 pts
100	Slovakia	60.8	-0.4 pts
101	Hungary	60.7	0 pts
102	Czechia	60.6	+0.2 pts
103	Austria	60.5	-0.3 pts
104	Mongolia	60.3	-0.5 pts
105	Armenia	59.9	-0.1 pts
106	Finland	59.9	-0.4 pts
107	Guatemala	59.7	+0.1 pts
108	Chad	59.6	-0.1 pts
109	Serbia	59.2	+1.1 pts
110	Ghana	59.1	-0 pts
111	Bangladesh	58.9	-2 pts
112	Namibia	58.9	-0 pts
113	Mauritius	58.7	-0.3 pts
114	Poland	58.7	-0.6 pts
115	Portugal	58.4	-0.1 pts
116	Vanuatu	58.3	-0.1 pts
117	Montenegro	58.2	-0.3 pts
118	Trinidad and Tobago	58.2	-1.1 pts
119	Slovenia	58	-0.1 pts
120	Togo	57.9	-0 pts
121	Spain	57.8	+0.3 pts
122	Uzbekistan	57.7	-0 pts
123	Costa Rica	57.7	+0.9 pts
124	Kyrgyzstan	57.5	+0.6 pts
125	Lesotho	57.4	-0 pts
126	Fiji	57.2	0 pts
127	Cape Verde	57	-0.1 pts
128	New Caledonia	56.9	-0.4 pts
129	Belize	56.9	-0.8 pts
130	Hong Kong	56.8	-0.4 pts
131	Honduras	56.6	+0.1 pts
132	Bulgaria	56.3	-0.6 pts
133	France	55.7	-0.3 pts
134	India	55.6	+0.9 pts
135	South Africa	55.6	+0.5 pts
136	Comoros	55.4	-0 pts
137	Guyana	55.1	+0.4 pts
138	Myanmar	55.1	-0.1 pts
139	Belgium	54.5	+0.1 pts
140	U.S. Virgin Islands	54.5	-0.1 pts
141	Türkiye	54.2	+0.9 pts
142	Suriname	53.8	+0.3 pts
143	Sierra Leone	53.6	-0 pts
144	French Polynesia	52.8	-0.6 pts
145	Guinea	52.8	-0 pts
146	Cuba	52.6	-0.5 pts
147	Croatia	52.4	+0.1 pts
148	Greece	52.3	+0.5 pts
149	Pakistan	52.3	-0.1 pts
150	North Macedonia	52.2	+0.5 pts
151	Venezuela	52.1	+0.7 pts
152	Papua New Guinea	52	-0 pts
153	Senegal	51.9	-0 pts
154	Romania	51.5	-0.3 pts
155	Gabon	51.3	-0.2 pts
156	Eswatini	51.2	-0 pts
157	Tonga	50.2	-0.4 pts
158	Italy	49.6	-0.2 pts
159	Bosnia and Herzegovina	49.2	-0.2 pts
160	Sri Lanka	48.6	+1.2 pts
161	Libya	48.3	-0.2 pts
162	Gambia	47.5	-0 pts
163	Tunisia	45.5	-0.3 pts
164	Egypt	44.6	-0.1 pts
165	Morocco	44.1	-0.1 pts
166	Samoa	43.1	-0.4 pts
167	Puerto Rico	42.6	+0.5 pts
168	Turkmenistan	42.2	+0.2 pts
169	Iraq	41.6	-0.1 pts
170	Iran	41.3	-0.3 pts
171	Algeria	41.2	-0.3 pts
172	Mauritania	40.9	-0 pts
173	Jordan	40	-0.1 pts
174	Nepal	39.3	-0.1 pts
175	Tajikistan	38.3	+0.3 pts
176	Afghanistan	37.5	-0 pts
177	Syria	37	-0.1 pts
178	Somalia	33.9	-0 pts
179	Yemen	33.2	+0.1 pts
180	Djibouti	31.8	-0 pts
181	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. 5 countries with data in other periods have no value for 2024 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.

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 87.2% in 2024, 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 2024.

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. 5 countries have no value for 2024 and are not ranked.

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

EU countries