The labour force participation rate is not the same as the share of people who have jobs. It includes both employed people and unemployed people who are actively participating in the labour market. Using ILOSTAT observations filtered to total sex and age 15+, this article compares the 80 countries with an observation dated 2025. Across those 80 country rows, the median participation rate is 62.8% and the simple unweighted mean is about 62.9%.
The official indicator, labour force participation rate, is the labour force as a percentage of the relevant working-age population. The labour force is the sum of employed and unemployed persons. A rate of 65% therefore means that about 65 out of every 100 people in the selected age group are either employed or counted as unemployed and active in the labour market. The remaining share is outside the labour force for reasons that can include education, retirement, care responsibilities, or other circumstances, but this single indicator does not separate those reasons.
Table of Contents
Only 80 of the 177 latest country observations are dated 2025
The source table contains 177 latest available country observations, but their reference years run from 2018 through 2025. Eighty are dated 2025, 31 are from 2024, 16 from 2023, and 23 from 2022; smaller groups come from 2018–2021. Mixing all 177 rows in a single ranking would compare labour markets observed at different points in time. The map, summary statistics, and high/low tables therefore use only the 80 observations that share the 2025 reference year.
| Observation year | Latest country observations |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 80 |
| 2024 | 31 |
| 2023 | 16 |
| 2022 | 23 |
| 2021 | 9 |
| 2020 | 9 |
| 2019 | 6 |
| 2018 | 3 |
This distinction matters whenever “latest available” data are used. A value can be the newest observation available for one country without being from the same year as another country’s value. Gray areas on the map should therefore be read as “no retained 2025 observation in this comparison.” Older values are not treated as 2025 observations, and missing values are not converted to zero.
The 2025 median is 62.8%, and 10 countries are at 70% or above
Treating each of the 80 country rows equally, the median is 62.8% and the simple mean is 62.9%. The first quartile is 58.7% and the third quartile is 67.0%. These are unweighted summaries of country rates, not a population-weighted global participation rate. A very populous country and a small country each contribute one row to the calculation.
| 2025 labour force participation band | Countries | Share of 80 |
|---|---|---|
| Under 55% | 10 | 12.5% |
| 55–<60% | 13 | 16.2% |
| 60–<65% | 27 | 33.8% |
| 65–<70% | 20 | 25.0% |
| 70% or more | 10 | 12.5% |
The largest group is 60–<65%, with 27 countries. Another 20 are between 65% and 70%, 13 are between 55% and 60%, and 10 are below 55%. Ten countries are at 70% or above. The colour bands should not be read as a scorecard of “good” and “bad” labour markets. They show how large the labour force is relative to the age-15+ population in each observed country.
The highest 2025 value is 82.2% in the United Arab Emirates
| Highest 2025 observations | Labour force participation rate |
|---|---|
| United Arab Emirates | 82.2% |
| Bolivia, Plurinational State of | 80.1% |
| Cambodia | 79.6% |
| Rwanda | 76.8% |
| Iceland | 75.6% |
| Angola | 74.3% |
| Moldova, Republic of | 72.4% |
| Paraguay | 72.0% |
| Peru | 71.7% |
| New Zealand | 70.5% |
The United Arab Emirates is highest at 82.2%, followed by Bolivia at 80.1%, Cambodia at 79.6%, Rwanda at 76.8%, and Iceland at 75.6%. The countries near the top differ widely in geography, income level, and demographic structure, so the ranking does not support a single causal explanation. Participation can be influenced by age structure, education, retirement patterns, women’s labour-market participation, migration, and household conditions, but those explanatory variables are not contained in this one indicator series.
| Lowest 2025 observations | Labour force participation rate |
|---|---|
| Palestine, State of | 45.5% |
| Djibouti | 45.5% |
| Italy | 49.9% |
| Gambia | 51.3% |
| Romania | 51.4% |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 51.9% |
| North Macedonia | 51.9% |
| Greece | 52.9% |
| Türkiye | 53.5% |
| Croatia | 54.1% |
At the lower end, the State of Palestine and Djibouti are both about 45.5%, while Italy is 49.9%. The Gambia, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and North Macedonia are around 51–52%. A low participation rate must not be relabeled as a high unemployment rate. Unemployed people are already inside the labour force; a lower participation rate instead indicates that a larger share of the age-15+ population is outside the labour force.
The Republic of Korea is at 64.9%, about 2.1 percentage points above the 80-country median
| Country | 2025 labour force participation rate |
|---|---|
| United Arab Emirates | 82.2% |
| Singapore | 67.9% |
| Australia | 66.9% |
| Canada | 65.3% |
| Korea, Republic of | 64.9% |
| Japan | 63.8% |
| Brazil | 63.2% |
| United Kingdom | 62.8% |
| Russian Federation | 62.8% |
| United States | 62.4% |
| Germany | 61.7% |
| Mexico | 60.4% |
| Spain | 58.2% |
| France | 57.0% |
| India | 55.3% |
| Italy | 49.9% |
The Republic of Korea records 64.9%, compared with the 80-country median of 62.8%. Australia is 66.9%, Canada 65.3%, Japan 63.8%, Brazil 63.2%, the United Kingdom 62.8%, the Russian Federation 62.8%, the United States 62.4%, and Germany 61.7%. Mexico is 60.4%, Spain 58.2%, France 57.0%, India 55.3%, and Italy 49.9%.
The benefit of this table is a common 2025 reference year. Its limitation is coverage: several large economies, including China, Indonesia, South Africa, and Nigeria, do not have a retained 2025 observation in this particular extract and are therefore not inserted using an older year. Keeping them out preserves the same-year comparison instead of making the table look more complete at the cost of time consistency.
Labour force participation is different from the employment-to-population ratio
The numerator of the labour force participation rate is employed + unemployed. An employment-to-population ratio uses employed persons only. Two countries can therefore have the same participation rate but different employment outcomes if one has a larger unemployed share within the labour force. Participation should be read together with unemployment and employment indicators when the question is whether people who want work are actually finding jobs.
A lower participation rate is not automatically evidence of a weak labour market either. A larger share of students, retirees, caregivers, or other people outside the labour force can lower participation. The indicator is powerful because it shows the extent to which the working-age population is engaged in the labour market, but it does not measure wages, hours, job security, working conditions, or job quality.
Why the age-15+ filter and national measurement details still matter
This extract uses ILOSTAT observations for total sex and the age-15+ group. ILO documentation notes that age 15+ is commonly used for international comparison, while national labour statistics can still differ in legal working ages, survey practices, treatment of specific groups, and the operational criteria used to identify employment and unemployment. International standards improve comparability, but they do not make every national measurement process identical. Very small decimal-point differences should therefore not be treated as precise rankings of labour-market performance.
Coverage is another limitation. The 80 countries with a 2025 observation do not represent every country in the world, so the 62.9% mean should not be called the world average. ILO modelled estimates and regional/global aggregates are better suited to questions that require consistent global coverage. The purpose here is narrower: compare the country observations that can be aligned to the same 2025 reference year.
Data source and calculation method
The definition follows the ILOSTAT labour force statistics concepts and definitions, where the labour force participation rate is described as the labour force as a percentage of the working-age population and the labour force is the sum of employed and unemployed persons. ILOSTAT also provides a labour force participation snapshot and broader data tools for labour-market indicators.
All statistics in the same-year sections use only the 80 observations dated 2025. No older observation is backfilled into 2025, and missing values are not set to zero. The mean and median are simple unweighted summaries across country rows. The map uses five fixed bands with boundaries at 55%, 60%, 65%, and 70% so that broad differences are visible without implying artificial precision.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a labour force participation rate of 65% mean?
It means about 65% of the selected age population is in the labour force, either employed or unemployed and actively participating in the labour market. It is not the same as an employment rate.
Are unemployed people included in the labour force?
Yes. The labour force is the sum of employed and unemployed persons, so a high participation rate does not automatically imply low unemployment.
What is the Republic of Korea’s 2025 labour force participation rate in this dataset?
The ILOSTAT age-15+ total-sex observation used here is 64.9% for 2025, about 2.1 percentage points above the 80-country median of 62.8%.
Why are only 80 countries shown in the 2025 comparison?
The source contains 177 latest country observations, but only 80 are dated 2025. Older latest observations are not mixed into the same-year 2025 analysis.
Related Articles
Labour force participation is easier to interpret alongside employment and demographic structure. These related Green Blog articles cover measures with different numerators and denominators that answer complementary questions.
- Employment-to-Population Ratio Map – Latest National Estimates
- Age Dependency Ratio by Country – 2025
- Old-Age Dependency Ratio by Country – 2025
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