Our global population
has increased by 2.4 billion since 1990. But more people are working in poor
countries than you would think. The global labor force participation rate has
actually dropped from 65 to 61, even as the global population rose from 5.3 billion
to 7.7 billion.
1990 65.487 Population
5.3 billion
2010 62.366 Population
7.0 billion
2018 61.393 Population
7.7 billion
The data is based on
the population from age 15+ and indicates that many poor countries have higher
labor force participation rates than many developed countries. Many poor
countries have their poor populations working in agriculture without modern
equipment and doing manual labor.
It made no sense to
rank these by labor force participation rate, because there are different reasons
for high and low rates. Poor countries might have high rates, because everyone
is working or low rates because of restrictive property rights or
instability. Wealthy countries may have
low rates, because non everyone has to work or have high rates because of
limited populations.
Labor Force Participation Rate
Afghanistan
66
Albania 56
Algeria 41
Angola 78
Argentina 60
Armenia 59
Australia 65
Austria 60
Azerbaijan 66
Bahamas 75
Bahrain 73
Bangladesh 59
Barbados 66
Belarus 64
Belgium 53
Belize 67
Benin 71
Bhutan 67
Bolivia 68
Bosnia Herzegovina
47
Botswana 72
Brazil 64
Brunei 65
Bulgaria 55
Burkina Faso
67
Burundi 79
Cabo Verde 69
Cambodia 81
Cameroon 76
Canada 65
Central
African Republic 72
Chad 71
Channel
Islands 57
Chile 62
China 69
Colombia 70
Comoros 44
Congo Dem Rep
64
Congo Rep 69
Costa Rica 60
Ivory Coast
57
Croatia 52
Cuba 54
Cyprus 62
Czech
Republic 60
Denmark 62
Djibouti 63
Dominican
Republic 64
Ecuador 69
Egypt 48
El Salvador
61
Equatorial
Guinea 62
Eritrea 81
Estonia 63
Eswatini 53
Ethiopia 80
Fiji 57
Finland 59
France 55
French
Polynesia 55
Gabon 52
Gambia 60
Georgia 61
Germany 61
Ghana 67
Greece 53
Guam 65
Guatemala 62
Guinea 65
Guinea Bissau
73
Guyana 57
Haiti 68
Honduras 65
Hong Kong 60
Hungary 56
Iceland 76
India 52
Indonesia 67
Iran 44
Iraq 43
Ireland 61
Israel 64
Italy 49
Jamaica 67
Japan 61
Jordan 39
Kazakhstan 71
Kenya 66
North Korea
81
South Korea
63
Kuwait 74
Kyrgyzstan 62
Laos 78
Latvia 61
Lebanon 47
Lesotho 67
Liberia 56
Libya 52
Lithuania 61
Luxembourg 58
Macao China
71
Madagascar 86
Malawi 77
Malaysia 65
Maldives 65
Mali 71
Malta 55
Mauritania 46
Mauritius 58
Mexico 61
Moldova 42
Mongolia 60
Montenegro 51
Morocco 45
Mozambique 79
Myanmar 62
Namibia 61
Nepal 83
Netherlands
63
New Caledonia
63
New Zealand
70
Nicaragua 67
Niger 79
Nigeria 55
North
Macedonia 55
Norway 63
Oman 72
Pakistan 53
Panama 65
Papua New
Guinea 47
Paraguay 71
Peru 77
Philippines
60
Poland 57
Portugal 59
Puerto Rico
41
Qatar 87
Romania 54
Russia 62
Rwanda 84
Samoa 31
Sao Tome
Principe 60
Saudi Arabia
57
Senegal 46
Serbia 54
Sierra Leone
58
Singapore 68
Slovakia 80
Slovenia 58
Solomon
Islands 71
Somalia 46
South Africa
56
South Sudan
73
Spain 57
Sri Lanka 52
St Lucia 68
St Vincent
Grenadines 68
Sudan 47
Suriname 52
Sweden 64
Switzerland
68
Syria 41
Tajikistan 83
Thailand 68
Timor Leste
39
Togo 78
Tonga 60
Trinidad
Tobago 61
Tunisia 46
Turkey 53
Turkmenistan
65
Uganda 71
Ukraine 54
UAE 83
UK 62
US 62
Uruguay 64
Uzbekistan 65
Vanuatu 71
Venezuela 62
Vietnam 77
Virgin
Islands 59
West Bank
& Gaza 45
Yemen 39
Zambia 75
Zimbabwe 84
Labor Force Participation Rate
World 61
Arab World 48
Caribbean 64
Central
Europe & Baltics 57
East Asia
& Pacific 68
Euro Area 57
Europe &
Central Asia 58
EU 57
Fragile
Damaged Countries 60
Poor Indebted
Countries 70
Latin America
& Caribbean 64
Latin America
excluding high income 65
Less
Developed Countries 68
Middle East
& North Africa 48
Middle East
excluding high income 44
North America
62
OECD Member
Countries 60
Other Small
States 65
Pacific
Island Small States 61
Small States
64
South Asia 53
Sub Saharan
Africa 67
Sub Saharan
excluding high income 67
High Income
Countries 60
Low &
Middle Income Countries 62
Low Income
Countries 71
Lower Middle
Income 57
Middle Income
61
Upper Middle
Income 65
Norb Leahy, Dunwoody
GA Tea Party Leader
