Labour force

1. the absolute size of the labour force and its sub-groups in absolute figures;
2. the labour force activity rate (labour force-to-population ratio) of the population and its sub-groups.

For further information about definitions and sources and methodology please see below at the end of the page.

Please make use of the interactive filtering options to highlight data by country, years, age groups, and gender.

Definitions

The total labour force comprises all persons of working age who furnish the supply of labour for the production of goods and services during a specified time-reference period. It refers to the sum of all persons of working age who are employed and those who are unemployed.

The labour force activity rate (labor force-to-population ratio) expresses the number of persons who are active in the labour market (who are employed or unemployed) as a percent of the total working age population, or its sub-group as defined, for example, by age and/or sex.

Labour force exclude population considered inactive in the labour market, for example those who participate in education or training, are retired, are discouraged or for other reasons are not able to work.

For more information, refer to the ILO concepts and definitions page.

Sources and methodology

The data for the charts below is sourced from these data tables:

(1) “Labour force by sex and age -- ILO modelled estimates, Nov. 2020 (thousands) | Annual”, table code “EAP_2EAP_SEX_AGE_NB_A”;

(2) “Labour force participation rate by sex and age -- ILO modelled estimates, Nov. 2020 (%) | Annual”, table code “EAP_2WAP_SEX_AGE_RT_A”.

The data can be accessed here: https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/.

Warning about data quality: some of the data may be based on imputed observations. Imputed observations are not based on national data, are subject to high uncertainty and should not be used for country comparisons or rankings. For more information about the estimation and, where relevant, projection methodology, please refer to the ILOSTAT page on modelled estimates and projections at: https://ilostat.ilo.org/resources/concepts-and-definitions/ilo-modelled-estimates/.