ILO · Employment Injury Protection Coverage
Employment injury protection by country
What share of workers would be protected if they were injured at work?
Of the 193 countries compared in the 2024 edition, 16 countries shared the highest reading, 100.0%, and 4 countries shared the lowest reading, 0.0%. In the middle country the figure was 45.9%.
Share
Employment injury protection · the 2024 edition
Context statistic
16 countries share the highest value, 100.0% — no single country is named first.
01the 2024 edition · values only
Who leads
The three countries at the highest end of 193 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
Highest in the 2024 edition · shared
16 countries share the highest reading, 100.0%
No single country is named first: picking one from a shared value would be a choice the data does not make.
Lowest in the 2024 edition
Tajikistan0.0%
South Sudan0.0%
Somalia0.0%
Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
Highest on each continent
- Africa
Seychelles87.7% - Americas
5 countries share 100.0%
- Asia
Israel100.0% - Europe
9 countries share 100.0%
- Oceania
New Zealand100.0% - Every region
02Every measured country
Employment injury protection on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a higher value — the better end.
- 0.0–11.0%
- 11.2–35.0%
- 35.5–65.2%
- 65.8–85.6%
- 86.9–100.0%
- No reading in the 2024 edition
- Europe
85.3%
the middle country, of 42 measured · 49 members
9 share 100.0%
Albania40.7%Highest and lowest reading in Europe.
- Americas
63.3%
the middle country, of 43 measured · 48 members
5 share 100.0%
Haiti3.0%Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Oceania
50.0%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 21 members
New Zealand100.0%
Papua New Guinea20.5%Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.
- Asia
33.3%
the middle country, of 48 measured · 52 members
Israel100.0%2 share 0.0%
Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Africa
10.6%
the middle country, of 50 measured · 55 members
Seychelles87.7%2 share 0.0%
Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Every region
22 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- Western Europe
90.2%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
4 share 100.0%
Monaco70.5%Highest and lowest reading in Western Europe.
- Southern Europe
89.5%
the middle country, of 13 measured · 17 members
4 share 100.0%
Albania40.7%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.
- Northern Europe
87.7%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 13 members
Isle of Man100.0%
Estonia79.5%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Europe.
- Eastern Asia
84.2%
the middle country, of 6 measured · 8 members
South Korea95.1%
China35.9%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Caribbean
76.7%
the middle country, of 21 measured · 24 members
4 share 100.0%
Haiti3.0%Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- Eastern Europe
70.9%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 10 members
Hungary96.0%
Moldova44.0%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Central Asia
52.6%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Kazakhstan71.9%Tajikistan0.0%Highest and lowest reading in Central Asia.
- South America
47.3%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 12 members
Guyana100.0%
Bolivia13.9%Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- Northern Africa
39.0%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 6 members
Egypt67.0%
Sudan5.3%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- Central America
37.0%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 8 members
Panama61.5%
Honduras17.4%Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- Melanesia
35.9%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
New Caledonia67.7%Papua New Guinea20.5%Highest and lowest reading in Melanesia.
- South-eastern Asia
30.9%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 11 members
Singapore95.9%
Timor-Leste8.4%Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Western Asia
30.1%
the middle country, of 18 measured · 19 members
Israel100.0%
Palestine0.0%Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
- Middle Africa
12.1%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members
Gabon45.0%
DR Congo1.8%Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- Southern Asia
10.4%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members
Iran45.9%
Pakistan2.8%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- Western Africa
8.3%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Cabo Verde44.7%
Guinea-Bissau1.5%Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- Eastern Africa
7.4%
the middle country, of 17 measured · 19 members
Seychelles87.7%2 share 0.0%
Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
New Zealand100.0%
Australia79.9%Highest and lowest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Micronesia
2 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Kiribati, Nauru.
Nauru88.6%
Kiribati32.8%Highest and lowest reading in Micronesia.
- Northern America
4 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Bermuda, Canada, Greenland, United States.
Greenland87.7%
Bermuda32.2%Highest and lowest reading in Northern America.
- Polynesia
1 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Samoa.
Samoa44.2%Highest and lowest reading in Polynesia.
- Southern Africa
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Botswana, Eswatini, Namibia, South Africa.
Namibia47.1%
Botswana35.0%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
03The whole field at once
The spread
193 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 45.9%; a quarter are above 80.4%, and a quarter below 16.0%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 193 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first. No rank or position is shown: too many countries share the same value for an order to mean anything. Many countries reach 100%, so no position is shown — ordering a ceiling would invent differences that are not there. The figure counts workers who are covered, not how many are hurt or how well a scheme pays, and where most work is informal a low figure largely reflects how few jobs are on the books.
Showing 25 of 193 countries
Values for the 2024 edition.
05In this edition
Employment injury protection in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading
Reached 16 times by 16 countries — shared, so no holder is named
100.0%
Labour force covered in the event of a work injury (%)
Lowest reading
Reached 4 times by 4 countries — shared, so no holder is named
0.0%
Labour force covered in the event of a work injury (%)
06By sex
Inside the number
International Labour Organization (ILO) also publishes separate female and male readings. The gap between them, where both exist.
Of the 114 countries with both readings, the women reading is higher in 52, the men reading in 44, and they are equal in 18. The widest gaps each way:
07The measure
About employment injury protection
This is the share of a country’s workforce that would be protected if injured at work — covered by a scheme that pays for treatment, replaces lost earnings or supports a family after a fatal accident. It is one part of the United Nations’ measure of social protection, and one of the plainest signs of whether work carries any formal protection at all.
What the number is: Labour force covered in the event of a work injury (%).
What it does not measure
It counts workers who would be covered if hurt at work, not how often they are hurt, how much a scheme pays or whether claims are paid — and where most work is informal it largely measures how few jobs are on the books.
08Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Work & Labour and Development & Human Capital, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Work & LabourDevelopment & Human CapitalWhich statistics vote, and why
Moves with
Where employment injury protection is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- GNI per Capita (PPP)World Bank Group · 97 countries in commonρ 0.90
- Inequality-adjusted Human Development IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 159 countries in commonρ 0.87
- Social Protection CoverageKeyILO · 190 countries in commonρ 0.85
Moves against
Where employment injury protection is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Learning PovertyWorld Bank Group and UNESCO Institute for Statistics · 105 countries in commonρ −0.82
- Informal Employment RateILO · 88 countries in commonρ −0.81
- Coefficient of Human InequalityUNDP Human Development Report Office · 159 countries in commonρ −0.81
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 379 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
09Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
The data, edition by edition
The countries at either end
10Questions
Employment injury protection: questions and answers
Which country has the highest employment injury protection?
16 countries share the highest reading, 100.0%, among the 193 compared in the 2024 edition, so no single country is named.
Which country has the lowest employment injury protection?
4 countries share the lowest reading, 0.0%, among the 193 compared in the 2024 edition, so no single country is named.
How many countries does the Employment Injury Protection Coverage cover?
193 in the 2024 edition.
What is the world average employment injury protection?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 193 compared in the 2024 edition, the figure was 45.9%.
Is this International Labour Organization (ILO)’s own ranking?
No ranking is shown. International Labour Organization (ILO) publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything, so none is derived.
How often is the Employment Injury Protection Coverage published?
This site holds one edition, describing 2024.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From International Labour Organization (ILO), under CC BY 4.0. The employment-injury part of SDG indicator 1.3.1, from the ILO’s World Social Protection Report, read from ILOSTAT directly. It comes from the same file as Social Protection Coverage, of which it is one component. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
11Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Employment Injury Protection Coverage — International Labour Organization (ILO)
The employment-injury part of SDG indicator 1.3.1, from the ILO’s World Social Protection Report, read from ILOSTAT directly. It comes from the same file as Social Protection Coverage, of which it is one component.
Newest edition
Report year 2024Data year not recorded
Cite the source as: International Labour Organization. World Social Protection Report. Geneva: ILO.
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-10-03.
How this page reads the numbers
- No rank or position is shown: International Labour Organization (ILO) publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- The file gives each country’s most recent reading, so the rows are from different years. Readings from before 2014 are listed but left out of every comparison on this page.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Employment injury protection by country: Employment Injury Protection Coverage, data from International Labour Organization (ILO). https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/employment-injury-coverage