ILO · Vulnerable Employment
Vulnerable employment by country
What share of work is done by own-account and unpaid family workers?
Of the 182 countries compared in 2025, Qatar had the lowest reading, 0.45596%, and Chad had the highest reading, 90.22429%. In the middle country the figure was 28.67196%. Among the 182 countries measured in every edition since 1991, the middle one moved from 36.44271% to 28.67196%.
Share
Part ofWork & Labour
Vulnerable employment · 2025
Key statistic · Work & Labour
Lowest of 182Qatar
0.45596%012025 · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the lowest end of 182 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: Haakon S. Krohn derivative work: JamesA · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
2Photo: Peter from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY 2.0, greyscale
3Photo: Unknown author · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
Highest in 2025
Chad90.22429%
Sierra Leone86.03839%
Madagascar84.41521%
Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
Lowest on each continent
- Africa
South Africa11.66169% - Americas
United States3.80977% - AsiaQatar0.45596%
- Europe
Norway4.16605% - Oceania
Australia9.12485% - Every region
02Every measured country
Vulnerable employment 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 lower value — the better end.
- 62.89119–90.22429%
- 35.53703–62.69041%
- 21.98650–34.98996%
- 9.63765–21.96125%
- 0.45596–9.59714%
- No reading in 2025 (5 measured in an earlier edition)
- Europe
9.65696%
the middle country, of 39 measured · 49 members
Norway4.16605%
Moldova58.61940%Lowest and highest reading in Europe.
- Americas
25.33944%
the middle country, of 33 measured · 48 members
United States3.80977%
Haiti76.03585%Lowest and highest reading in Americas.
- Oceania
32.78707%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 21 members
Australia9.12485%
Papua New Guinea71.15511%Lowest and highest reading in Oceania.
- Asia
33.08183%
the middle country, of 48 measured · 52 members
Qatar0.45596%
Afghanistan81.77016%Lowest and highest reading in Asia.
- Africa
63.82621%
the middle country, of 51 measured · 55 members
South Africa11.66169%Chad90.22429%Lowest and highest reading in Africa.
- Every region
22 sub-regions, lowest middle country first
- Western Asia
8.11998%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 19 members
Qatar0.45596%
Azerbaijan53.84083%Lowest and highest reading in Western Asia.
- Northern Europe
8.39731%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 13 members
Norway4.16605%
United Kingdom11.53177%Lowest and highest reading in Northern Europe.
- Western Europe
8.49939%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Germany4.34422%
Netherlands13.42404%Lowest and highest reading in Western Europe.
- Eastern Europe
11.75981%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 10 members
Russia4.93108%Moldova58.61940%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Southern Europe
13.30871%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 17 members
Croatia6.34598%
Albania46.03193%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Europe.
- Eastern Asia
17.68683%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 8 members
Macau3.32639%
North Korea56.76562%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Caribbean
21.24829%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 24 members
United States Virgin Islands5.47362%Haiti76.03585%Lowest and highest reading in Caribbean.
- Northern Africa
23.94362%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 6 members
Tunisia17.94083%
Morocco35.53703%Lowest and highest reading in Northern Africa.
- Central Asia
28.27361%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Kazakhstan24.78946%
Uzbekistan33.31538%Lowest and highest reading in Central Asia.
- Southern Africa
28.37692%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
South Africa11.66169%
Lesotho32.63859%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Africa.
- South America
31.08540%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 12 members
Suriname18.37635%
Bolivia62.69041%Lowest and highest reading in South America.
- Central America
32.34575%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 8 members
Costa Rica23.36226%
Nicaragua38.86484%Lowest and highest reading in Central America.
- South-eastern Asia
49.95639%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 11 members
Brunei4.47833%
Laos76.37979%Lowest and highest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Southern Asia
57.34829%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Maldives16.90722%Afghanistan81.77016%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Asia.
- Melanesia
57.99114%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
New Caledonia14.16059%Papua New Guinea71.15511%Lowest and highest reading in Melanesia.
- Eastern Africa
66.02005%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 19 members
Mauritius14.87961%Madagascar84.41521%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Middle Africa
67.55919%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Equatorial Guinea23.08170%Chad90.22429%Lowest and highest reading in Middle Africa.
- Western Africa
74.98608%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Cabo Verde34.25671%Sierra Leone86.03839%Lowest and highest reading in Western Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
Australia9.12485%
New Zealand12.57420%Lowest and highest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Micronesia
1 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Guam.
Guam11.75233%Lowest and highest reading in Micronesia.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
United States3.80977%
Canada9.55544%Lowest and highest reading in Northern America.
- Polynesia
3 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: French Polynesia, Samoa, Tonga.
French Polynesia14.78121%
Samoa41.64329%Lowest and highest reading in Polynesia.
03The whole field at once
The spread
182 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 28.67196%; a quarter are above 56.45247%, and a quarter below 11.68435%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 187 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first — position 1 is the highest value, the way ILO’s own tables read. “=” marks a position shared with another country. International Labour Organization (ILO) ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. This is not an unemployment measure and should not be read as one. A country can have almost its entire adult population in work and still sit near the top of this table — that combination is exactly what it exists to show.
Showing 25 of 187 countries
Values for 2025. The change column compares 2025 with 2024 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
051991–2025 · 35 reference years
Over time
Each point is one reference year from 1991. The line falls as informal and family work is replaced by waged employment, which is one of the slowest-moving structural changes an economy goes through.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 182 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 182 | 28.67196% | 11.68435% – 56.45247% | 28.67196% |
| 2024 | 182 | 29.04190% | 11.73123% – 56.56044% | 29.04190% |
| 2023 | 184 | 29.32946% | 11.69704% – 56.92936% | 29.32946% |
| 2022 | 186 | 29.66678% | 12.08777% – 56.74844% | 29.66678% |
| 2021 | 187 | 30.01280% | 12.23648% – 56.62729% | 30.03706% |
| 2020 | 187 | 30.53700% | 12.48486% – 57.45515% | 30.62748% |
| 2019 | 187 | 29.98020% | 12.36402% – 56.35611% | 30.15781% |
| 2018 | 187 | 30.14612% | 12.96094% – 55.96255% | 30.33041% |
| 2017 | 187 | 29.92518% | 12.82375% – 56.19440% | 30.16253% |
| 2016 | 187 | 29.90707% | 12.73015% – 56.60930% | 30.29834% |
| 2015 | 187 | 30.25754% | 12.65099% – 57.67483% | 30.54333% |
| 2014 | 187 | 30.46901% | 13.30769% – 57.98322% | 30.72783% |
| 2013 | 187 | 31.13987% | 13.45593% – 58.10352% | 31.38518% |
| 2012 | 187 | 30.99598% | 13.41761% – 59.08267% | 31.14215% |
| 2011 | 187 | 31.41464% | 13.59678% – 59.20718% | 31.59686% |
| 2010 | 187 | 32.36956% | 13.63920% – 58.72114% | 32.40204% |
| 2009 | 187 | 32.58901% | 13.41336% – 59.34156% | 32.69499% |
| 2008 | 187 | 31.76411% | 13.23824% – 59.52162% | 31.85041% |
| 2007 | 187 | 33.47332% | 13.59886% – 59.60697% | 33.14127% |
| 2006 | 187 | 34.26854% | 14.05930% – 59.42934% | 34.16770% |
| 2005 | 187 | 34.65748% | 14.26598% – 59.64110% | 34.54314% |
| 2004 | 187 | 35.51356% | 14.30190% – 61.11752% | 35.44563% |
| 2003 | 187 | 35.90469% | 14.21599% – 60.45865% | 35.80537% |
| 2002 | 187 | 35.95888% | 14.49158% – 60.32691% | 35.64026% |
| 2001 | 187 | 35.26749% | 14.49234% – 61.12426% | 35.75601% |
| 2000 | 187 | 35.66673% | 14.95022% – 61.54531% | 36.05788% |
| 1999 | 187 | 34.57150% | 15.58024% – 61.93672% | 34.82841% |
| 1998 | 187 | 34.92245% | 15.53906% – 62.16740% | 35.07893% |
| 1997 | 187 | 35.52822% | 16.05920% – 62.18340% | 36.15866% |
| 1996 | 187 | 35.76215% | 16.09021% – 62.40556% | 36.27053% |
| 1995 | 187 | 35.92848% | 15.25924% – 62.55932% | 36.11597% |
| 1994 | 187 | 35.96271% | 15.41771% – 63.44728% | 35.99107% |
| 1993 | 187 | 36.08557% | 15.65917% – 63.40706% | 36.35458% |
| 1992 | 187 | 36.15325% | 15.88208% – 63.50784% | 36.33594% |
| 1991 | 187 | 36.22106% | 15.61120% – 63.69266% | 36.44271% |
062024 → 2025
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions — reference years recalculated in one report, not two separate publications. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Improved most
before → after
Armenia33.48078% → 32.84829% · 82nd → 82nd−0.63250
Mali76.29060% → 75.76000% · 18th → 20th−0.53060
Kyrgyzstan29.49026% → 28.96699% · 91st → 91st−0.52326
Georgia42.91613% → 42.40573% · 61st → 61st−0.51040
Rwanda39.83799% → 39.35593% · 63rd → 64th−0.48205
Worsened most
before → after
Cyprus8.06978% → 8.38289% · 155th → 155th+0.31311- Equatorial Guinea22.84773% → 23.08170% · 108th → 107th+0.23397
- New Caledonia13.99424% → 14.16059% · 129th → 129th+0.16635
Venezuela37.16485% → 37.29774% · 71st → 71st+0.13290
Yemen45.51560% → 45.59037% · 59th → 59th+0.07477
182 countries were measured in both 2024 and 2025.
07Across every edition
Vulnerable employment in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
95.52983%
Vulnerable employment (% of total employment)
Lowest reading on record
0.20001%
Vulnerable employment (% of total employment)
Biggest improvement between editions
−6.73272
37.76790% → 31.03517%
Biggest decline between editions
+5.71927
27.27104% → 32.99032%
Most improved since first measured
−26.44775
77.84487% → 51.39712%
At the top most often
20 of 35
editions, alone at the first-listed end
08The measure
About vulnerable employment
Vulnerable employment is the share of all work done by own-account workers and by family members working unpaid in a family business. These are the jobs least likely to come with a contract, a regular wage or any social protection, which makes this a measure of the quality of work rather than the quantity of it.
What the number is: Vulnerable employment (% of total employment).
What it does not measure
It is defined by employment status, so it leaves out employees who are themselves in insecure jobs, and it counts some well-off self-employed people as vulnerable.
09Where 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
A key statistic for Work & Labour
“How much work is own-account or unpaid family labour, carrying no contract and no protection.”
- Edition used
- 2025 (data 2025)
- Countries
- 182
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
Moves with
Where vulnerable employment is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Self-Employment RateILO · 182 countries in commonρ 0.99
- Employment in AgricultureILO · 182 countries in commonρ 0.91
- Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Value Added (% of GDP)World Bank Group · 148 countries in commonρ 0.87
Moves against
Where vulnerable employment is higher, these tend to be lower.
- GDP per Person EmployedWorld Bank Group · 168 countries in commonρ −0.90
- Historical GDP per Capita (Maddison)GGDC · 159 countries in commonρ −0.89
- Labour Productivity per Hour WorkedILO · 181 countries in commonρ −0.89
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 378 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
10Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
The countries at either end
11Questions
Vulnerable employment: questions and answers
Which country has the lowest vulnerable employment?
Qatar, at 0.45596%, among the 182 countries compared in 2025.
Which country has the highest vulnerable employment?
Chad, at 90.22429%, among the 182 countries compared in 2025.
How many countries does the Vulnerable Employment cover?
182 in 2025, and 187 at least once across all editions. The number measured varies from 182 to 187 between editions.
What is the world average vulnerable employment?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 182 compared in 2025, the figure was 28.67196%.
Is this International Labour Organization (ILO)’s own ranking?
No. International Labour Organization (ILO) publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Vulnerable Employment published?
This site holds 35 reference years, 1991–2025, all recalculated in International Labour Organization (ILO)’s 2026 report on one method — not 35 separate publications.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From International Labour Organization (ILO), under CC BY 4.0. An ILO modelled estimate, pulled through the World Bank’s indicator API (SL.EMP.VULN.ZS). Modelled rather than measured so that one definition applies to every country. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
12Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Vulnerable Employment — International Labour Organization (ILO)
An ILO modelled estimate, pulled through the World Bank’s indicator API (SL.EMP.VULN.ZS). Modelled rather than measured so that one definition applies to every country.
Newest edition
Report year 2025Data year 2025
Cite the source as: International Labour Organization. ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST). Geneva: ILOSTAT.
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-09-10.
How this page reads the numbers
- International Labour Organization (ILO) ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- 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.
- 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.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Qatar — Haakon S. Krohn derivative work: JamesA, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Bahrain — Peter from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia derivative work: Jjtkk, CC BY 2.0
- United Arab Emirates — Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Vulnerable employment by country: Vulnerable Employment, data from International Labour Organization (ILO). https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/vulnerable-employment