Data for 1990

Female Labour Force Participation Rate, 1990

Name: Female Labour Force Participation Rate, 1990
Creator: International Labour Organization (ILO)
License: https://www.ilo.org/rights-and-permissions

1990, as ILO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Female Labour Force Participation Rate, 1990 covers 187 countries. Burundi is highest, at 90.451; Iraq is lowest, at 8.512. The middle country reads 47.900.

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Female Labour Force Participation Rate · Data for 1990

HighestBurundi

90.451

LowestIraq

8.512

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the better end.

187countries
1measure
1990the year it describes
187distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 6, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Female Labour Force Participation Rate, 1990, as published. ILO ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 187 countries · select a heading to sort

Female Labour Force Participation Rate, 1990: every country, as published by International Labour Organization (ILO).
derived
1	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	90.451
2	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	86.794
3	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	84.054
4	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	83.871
5	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	81.999
6	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	79.394
7	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	78.352
8	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	77.585
9	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	77.488
10	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	76.635
11	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	75.604
12	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	74.913
13	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	74.736
14	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	74.633
15	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	74.444
16	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	74.020
17	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	73.090
18	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	71.837
19	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	71.450
20	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	71.168
21	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	70.783
22	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	70.318
23	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	70.054
24	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	69.733
25	Niger`NER`Western Africa	69.238
26	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	66.876
27	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	66.654
28	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	66.204
29	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	65.971
30	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	65.762
31	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	65.605
32	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	65.086
33	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	64.779
34	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	64.615
35	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	64.326
36	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	64.260
37	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	63.881
38	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	63.491
39	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	62.803
40	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	61.106
41	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	60.938
42	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	60.519
43	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	60.303
44	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	59.999
45	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	59.955
46	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	59.680
47	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	59.627
48	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	59.507
49	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	59.469
50	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	59.150
51	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	59.130
52	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	59.016
53	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	58.630
54	Canada`CAN`Northern America	57.884
55	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	57.601
56	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	57.113
57	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	56.681
58	United States`USA`Northern America	55.998
59	Bolivia`BOL`South America	55.844
60	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	55.237
61	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	55.163
62	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	54.757
63	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	54.673
64	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	54.237
65	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	53.782
66	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	53.567
67	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	53.509
68	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	53.470
69	Colombia`COL`South America	53.361
70	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	53.354
71	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	53.101
72	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	52.775
73	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	52.738
74	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	52.379
75	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	52.307
76	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	52.005
77	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	51.987
78	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	51.773
79	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	51.611
80	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	51.433
81	Paraguay`PRY`South America	51.305
82	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	50.996
83	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	50.490
84	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	50.382
85	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	50.062
86	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	49.296
87	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	48.669
88	Venezuela`VEN`South America	48.560
89	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	48.436
90	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	48.217
91	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	48.209
92	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	48.134
93	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	48.050
94	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	47.900
95	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	47.767
96	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	47.352
97	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	47.312
98	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	47.207
99	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	47.059
100	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	46.963
101	Ecuador`ECU`South America	46.947
102	France`FRA`Western Europe	46.421
103	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	46.277
104	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	46.119
105	Macau`MAC`Eastern Asia	45.643
106	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	45.469
107	Channel Islands`CHI`Northern Europe	45.343
108	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	45.277
109	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	45.168
110	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	45.149
111	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	44.911
112	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	44.720
113	Honduras`HND`Central America	44.543
114	Brazil`BRA`South America	44.405
115	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	44.304
116	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	44.286
117	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	44.094
118	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	44.001
119	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	43.832
120	Peru`PER`South America	43.739
121	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	43.633
122	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	43.394
123	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	43.270
124	Argentina`ARG`South America	43.117
125	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	43.096
126	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	43.033
127	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	42.671
128	Uruguay`URY`South America	42.569
129	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	41.721
130	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	41.671
131	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	41.399
132	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	41.395
133	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	40.971
134	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	40.946
135	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	39.676
136	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	38.240
137	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	37.994
138	Guyana`GUY`South America	37.530
139	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	37.413
140	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	36.460
141	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	36.346
142	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	36.288
143	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	35.830
144	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	35.539
145	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	35.382
146	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	34.955
147	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	34.261
148	Mexico`MEX`Central America	33.981
149	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	33.931
150	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	33.351
151	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	33.026
152	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	32.866
153	Belize`BLZ`Central America	32.663
154	Suriname`SUR`South America	32.426
155	Panama`PAN`Central America	32.404
156	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	32.156
157	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	32.055
158	Chile`CHL`South America	30.983
159	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	30.609
160	India`IND`Southern Asia	30.257
161	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	29.681
162	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	29.320
163	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	26.827
164	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	26.513
165	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	25.230
166	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	24.207
167	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	23.580
168	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	22.864
169	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	22.819
170	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	22.245
171	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	22.188
172	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	21.720
173	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	21.192
174	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	20.630
175	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	19.882
176	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	18.798
177	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	17.975
178	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	16.094
179	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	15.739
180	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	15.379
181	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	15.024
182	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	11.705
183	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	11.315
184	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	11.201
185	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	11.195
186	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	9.570
187	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	8.512

02In 1990

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Burundi90.451
2Mozambique86.794
3Tanzania84.054
4Madagascar83.871
5Solomon Islands81.999

Lowest

187Iraq8.512
186Iran9.570
185Pakistan11.195
184Jordan11.201
183Palestine11.315

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 47.900. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

03Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

How values are stored

One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from ILO’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 1990.
The position is ours
ILO publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 187 countries has every column.

04The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
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187 rows · 5.4 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download female-labour-participation-1990-nations-inquiry.csv
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The publisher’s original
ILO’s own file, on its own site.
SL.TLF.CACT.FE.ZS

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

International Labour Organization (ILO) (1990). Female Labour Force Participation Rate, 1990 [data set], describing 1990. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/female-labour-participation/1990

0536 held

Other years

‹ The year before
This is the first year held here.
The year after ›
Female Labour Force Participation Rate, 1991
187 countries
All of them
Female Labour Force Participation Rate: every year
36 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

06Questions