Data for 2017

Labour Force Participation Rate, 2017

Name: Labour Force Participation Rate, 2017
Creator: International Labour Organization (ILO)
License: https://www.ilo.org/rights-and-permissions

2017, as ILO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Labour Force Participation Rate, 2017 covers 187 countries. Qatar is highest, at 87.498; São Tomé and Príncipe is lowest, at 23.880. The middle country reads 60.659. Against 2016, 187 values changed (88 up, 99 down), the same countries are covered.

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Labour Force Participation Rate · Data for 2017

HighestQatar

87.498

LowestSão Tomé and Príncipe

23.880

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

187countries
1measure
2017the 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, 2017, 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

Labour Force Participation Rate, 2017: every country, as published by International Labour Organization (ILO).
derived
1	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	87.498
2	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	85.647
3	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	84.320
4	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	83.860
5	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	82.094
6	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	81.409
7	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	80.890
8	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	80.093
9	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	78.996
10	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	78.983
11	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	78.759
12	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	78.122
13	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	77.200
14	Peru`PER`South America	76.996
15	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	76.910
16	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	76.892
17	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	75.609
18	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	74.758
19	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	74.315
20	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	74.269
21	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	74.159
22	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	73.425
23	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	73.388
24	Niger`NER`Western Africa	72.892
25	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	72.389
26	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	72.306
27	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	71.759
28	Paraguay`PRY`South America	71.039
29	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	70.708
30	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	70.480
31	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	70.230
32	Macau`MAC`Eastern Asia	69.862
33	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	69.369
34	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	69.308
35	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	69.159
36	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	68.943
37	Bolivia`BOL`South America	68.634
38	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	68.538
39	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	68.350
40	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	68.331
41	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	68.156
42	Ecuador`ECU`South America	68.154
43	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	67.525
44	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	67.132
45	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	67.058
46	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	66.855
47	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	66.694
48	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	66.166
49	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	66.126
50	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	66.121
51	Colombia`COL`South America	66.013
52	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	65.989
53	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	65.922
54	Panama`PAN`Central America	65.872
55	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	65.832
56	Canada`CAN`Northern America	65.792
57	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	65.674
58	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	65.659
59	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	65.491
60	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	65.333
61	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	65.248
62	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	65.202
63	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	65.191
64	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	65.038
65	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	64.756
66	Brazil`BRA`South America	64.525
67	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	64.479
68	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	64.391
69	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	64.377
70	Honduras`HND`Central America	64.359
71	Uruguay`URY`South America	64.114
72	Belize`BLZ`Central America	64.034
73	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	63.467
74	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	63.244
75	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	63.000
76	Chile`CHL`South America	62.951
77	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	62.910
78	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	62.782
79	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	62.766
80	United States`USA`Northern America	62.548
81	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	62.496
82	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	62.412
83	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	62.367
84	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	62.355
85	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	62.023
86	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	61.921
87	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	61.827
88	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	61.563
89	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	61.462
90	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	61.305
91	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	60.943
92	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	60.786
93	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	60.665
94	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	60.659
95	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	60.612
96	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	60.505
97	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	60.466
98	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	60.461
99	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	60.444
100	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	60.243
101	Mexico`MEX`Central America	60.209
102	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	60.205
103	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	60.073
104	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	59.909
105	Venezuela`VEN`South America	59.903
106	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	59.893
107	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	59.887
108	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	59.848
109	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	59.782
110	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	59.668
111	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	59.181
112	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	59.180
113	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	59.141
114	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	59.138
115	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	59.135
116	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	59.006
117	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	58.990
118	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	58.881
119	Argentina`ARG`South America	58.808
120	Channel Islands`CHI`Northern Europe	58.738
121	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	58.737
122	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	58.667
123	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	58.577
124	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	58.552
125	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	58.328
126	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	58.074
127	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	58.057
128	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	58.047
129	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	57.834
130	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	57.657
131	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	57.562
132	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	57.457
133	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	56.868
134	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	56.468
135	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	56.305
136	Suriname`SUR`South America	56.138
137	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	55.822
138	Guyana`GUY`South America	55.599
139	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	55.556
140	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	55.405
141	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	55.359
142	France`FRA`Western Europe	55.258
143	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	54.675
144	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	54.432
145	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	54.349
146	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	54.278
147	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	53.991
148	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	53.554
149	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	53.336
150	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	53.157
151	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	52.832
152	India`IND`Southern Asia	52.671
153	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	52.640
154	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	51.837
155	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	51.388
156	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	51.338
157	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	51.043
158	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	51.022
159	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	50.838
160	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	50.418
161	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	49.501
162	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	49.408
163	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	49.329
164	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	49.253
165	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	47.973
166	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	47.773
167	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	47.488
168	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	47.305
169	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	46.002
170	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	45.500
171	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	44.950
172	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	44.235
173	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	44.004
174	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	43.115
175	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	42.409
176	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	42.325
177	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	41.890
178	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	41.102
179	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	40.226
180	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	39.915
181	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	38.877
182	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	38.236
183	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	37.742
184	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	34.102
185	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	32.470
186	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	32.272
187	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	23.880

02In 2017

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1Qatar87.498
2Madagascar85.647
3Solomon Islands84.320
4Tanzania83.860
5North Korea82.094

Lowest

187São Tomé and Príncipe23.880
186Djibouti32.272
185Yemen32.470
184Somalia34.102
183Syria37.742

A higher value is the better result. The middle country reads 60.659. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032016 → 2017

Since 2016

What changed between 2016 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
187values changed, of 187 in both
88 · 99rose · fell
0unchanged

Rose most

Maldives56.893 → 59.181+2.288
Bangladesh56.090 → 58.328+2.238
Bulgaria53.310 → 55.405+2.095
Slovenia56.843 → 58.552+1.709
Peru75.377 → 76.996+1.619

Fell most

Senegal50.116 → 46.002−4.114
Philippines61.590 → 59.141−2.449
Kyrgyzstan59.215 → 56.868−2.347
Kenya74.405 → 72.306−2.099
Uganda73.777 → 71.759−2.018

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

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 2017.
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.

05The 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-2017-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) (2017). Labour Force Participation Rate, 2017 [data set], describing 2017. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/labour-participation/2017

0636 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Labour Force Participation Rate, 2016
187 countries
The year after ›
Labour Force Participation Rate, 2018
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

07Questions