Data for 1990

Labour Force Participation Rate, 1990

Name: 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

Labour Force Participation Rate, 1990 covers 187 countries. Burundi is highest, at 90.094; São Tomé and Príncipe is lowest, at 24.676. The middle country reads 61.030.

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Labour Force Participation Rate · Data for 1990

HighestBurundi

90.094

LowestSão Tomé and Príncipe

24.676

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 10, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of 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.

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Showing 25 of 187 countries · select a heading to sort

Labour Force Participation Rate, 1990: every country, as published by International Labour Organization (ILO).
derived
1	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	90.094
2	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	86.680
3	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	86.239
4	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	84.079
5	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	83.898
6	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	83.745
7	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	83.473
8	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	82.229
9	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	81.806
10	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	81.789
11	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	81.489
12	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	81.003
13	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	80.652
14	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	79.974
15	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	79.170
16	Niger`NER`Western Africa	78.895
17	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	78.151
18	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	77.318
19	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	77.269
20	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	76.989
21	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	75.732
22	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	75.208
23	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	74.355
24	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	74.354
25	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	73.671
26	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	73.290
27	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	73.074
28	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	72.995
29	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	72.690
30	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	72.681
31	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	72.417
32	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	72.191
33	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	72.177
34	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	72.156
35	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	71.901
36	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	71.753
37	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	71.238
38	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	70.568
39	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	70.338
40	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	69.948
41	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	69.533
42	Paraguay`PRY`South America	69.119
43	Bolivia`BOL`South America	69.002
44	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	68.681
45	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	68.508
46	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	68.232
47	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	67.979
48	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	67.407
49	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	67.301
50	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	67.031
51	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	66.989
52	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	66.837
53	Canada`CAN`Northern America	66.760
54	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	66.750
55	Colombia`COL`South America	66.743
56	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	66.716
57	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	66.421
58	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	66.365
59	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	66.340
60	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	66.319
61	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	65.930
62	Honduras`HND`Central America	65.916
63	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	65.604
64	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	65.560
65	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	65.510
66	United States`USA`Northern America	65.292
67	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	64.946
68	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	64.744
69	Brazil`BRA`South America	64.676
70	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	64.659
71	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	64.654
72	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	64.348
73	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	64.085
74	Venezuela`VEN`South America	64.054
75	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	63.894
76	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	63.743
77	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	63.690
78	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	63.490
79	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	63.392
80	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	63.217
81	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	63.048
82	Ecuador`ECU`South America	63.018
83	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	62.829
84	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	62.606
85	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	62.465
86	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	62.438
87	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	62.376
88	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	61.585
89	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	61.559
90	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	61.551
91	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	61.450
92	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	61.362
93	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	61.138
94	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	61.030
95	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	60.890
96	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	60.667
97	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	60.490
98	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	60.317
99	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	60.191
100	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	60.148
101	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	59.766
102	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	59.718
103	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	59.654
104	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	59.510
105	Guyana`GUY`South America	59.454
106	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	59.379
107	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	59.276
108	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	59.202
109	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	59.181
110	Peru`PER`South America	59.115
111	Argentina`ARG`South America	59.093
112	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	59.084
113	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	59.031
114	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	58.920
115	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	58.823
116	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	58.527
117	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	58.443
118	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	58.171
119	Mexico`MEX`Central America	58.123
120	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	58.095
121	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	57.984
122	India`IND`Southern Asia	57.937
123	Macau`MAC`Eastern Asia	57.846
124	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	57.734
125	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	57.350
126	Uruguay`URY`South America	57.199
127	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	57.197
128	Channel Islands`CHI`Northern Europe	57.109
129	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	56.993
130	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	56.777
131	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	56.614
132	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	56.284
133	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	56.239
134	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	56.199
135	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	56.158
136	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	56.030
137	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	55.678
138	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	55.663
139	France`FRA`Western Europe	55.603
140	Belize`BLZ`Central America	55.366
141	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	55.116
142	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	55.008
143	Panama`PAN`Central America	54.468
144	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	54.407
145	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	54.396
146	Chile`CHL`South America	52.514
147	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	52.228
148	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	51.541
149	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	51.350
150	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	51.239
151	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	51.146
152	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	51.004
153	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	50.974
154	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	50.757
155	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	50.544
156	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	50.259
157	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	50.073
158	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	50.069
159	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	50.061
160	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	49.873
161	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	49.859
162	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	49.520
163	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	49.350
164	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	49.084
165	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	48.603
166	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	48.521
167	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	48.258
168	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	48.233
169	Suriname`SUR`South America	48.151
170	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	47.670
171	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	47.186
172	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	47.142
173	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	46.680
174	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	46.480
175	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	45.624
176	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	45.546
177	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	44.845
178	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	44.590
179	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	44.229
180	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	42.462
181	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	41.706
182	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	41.553
183	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	40.352
184	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	39.339
185	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	35.114
186	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	33.997
187	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	24.676

02In 1990

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Burundi90.094
2Tanzania86.680
3Madagascar86.239
4Mozambique84.079
5Burkina Faso83.898

Lowest

187São Tomé and Príncipe24.676
186Somalia33.997
185Djibouti35.114
184Jordan39.339
183Palestine40.352

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 61.030. “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
For a spreadsheet or code
187 rows · 5.3 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download 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.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). Labour Force Participation Rate, 1990 [data set], describing 1990. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/labour-participation/1990

0536 held

Other years

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

06Questions