World 8.2bn peopleGDP $118tnLife expectancy 73.5 yrsOnline 73.6%
NotesAdvertise
World Report nowcountries in numbers
World Report now
  1. Home
  2. Rankings
  3. Labour
  4. Low-income countries
Labour · World Bank income group

Labour in low-income countries: how the countries rank

Who works and who is looking for work, by ILO modelled estimates. 13 indicators for the 25 economies in the low income group, ranked within the group; the group figure is the World Bank aggregate.

Labour force267mlow-income countries, 2025 · world 3.7bnParticipation rate64.4%low-income countries, 2025 · world 61.0%Women's participation54.7%low-income countries, 2025 · world 48.9%Employment rate61.2%low-income countries, 2025 · world 58.1%Unemployment4.9%low-income countries, 2025 · world 4.8%Female unemployment4.7%low-income countries, 2025 · world 4.9%Youth unemployment10.1%low-income countries, 2025 · world 13.4%Youth NEET rate25.9%median country
Labour force
low-income countriesWorldlower-middle-income countriesupper-middle-income countrieshigh-income countries
01.0bn2.0bn3.0bn4.0bn1995200020052010201520202025low-income countries267mWorldlower-middle-income countriesupper-middle-income countrieshigh-income countries
Participation rate
low-income countriesWorldlower-middle-income countriesupper-middle-income countrieshigh-income countries
55%60%65%70%75%1995200020052010201520202025low-income countries64.4%Worldlower-middle-income countriesupper-middle-income countrieshigh-income countries
countries

All 25 economies, labour

Latest value and rank within the group (small figure). Click a column to sort; the country name opens its labour profile.

25 shown
CountryLabour forceParticipation rateWomen's participationEmployment rateUnemploymentFemale unemploymentYouth unemploymentYouth NEET rate
Ethiopia56.8m#1 · 202568.5%#12 · 202558.5%#14 · 202566.2%#11 · 20253.3%#16 · 20254.5%#13 · 20255.4%#16 · 202517.5%#14 · 2021
Democratic Republic of the Congo39.2m#2 · 202564.3%#15 · 202561.8%#12 · 202561.5%#15 · 20254.4%#13 · 20253.5%#16 · 20257.8%#13 · 202531.4%#8 · 2020
Uganda23.4m#3 · 202580.0%#3 · 202575.6%#5 · 202577.8%#4 · 20252.7%#21 · 20253.3%#18 · 20254.2%#18 · 202513.8%#17 · 2021
North Korea17.7m#4 · 202582.2%#2 · 202577.7%#3 · 202579.2%#3 · 20253.5%#14 · 20253.7%#15 · 20257.9%#12 · 2025—
Madagascar17.1m#5 · 202585.5%#1 · 202582.9%#1 · 202582.9%#1 · 20253.0%#18 · 20253.3%#17 · 20255.2%#17 · 202524.3%#12 · 2022
Mozambique15.7m#6 · 202578.7%#5 · 202577.1%#4 · 202573.5%#8 · 20256.6%#8 · 20257.2%#8 · 202511.6%#8 · 202519.2%#13 · 2022
Niger12.0m#7 · 202579.7%#4 · 202572.8%#7 · 202579.4%#2 · 20250.4%#25 · 20250.3%#25 · 20250.5%#25 · 202515.7%#15 · 2022
Sudan10.9m#8 · 202237.5%#21 · 202214.5%#22 · 202234.7%#21 · 20227.5%#7 · 202214.0%#5 · 202212.0%#7 · 202246.5%#2 · 2022
Burkina Faso9.9m#9 · 202570.0%#11 · 202564.1%#11 · 202567.6%#10 · 20253.5%#15 · 20254.3%#14 · 20256.4%#15 · 202524.5%#11 · 2025
Afghanistan9.4m#10 · 202537.5%#22 · 20255.1%#24 · 202532.5%#22 · 202513.4%#4 · 202525.0%#3 · 202516.8%#5 · 202543.8%#3 · 2021
Mali9.2m#11 · 202567.0%#13 · 202552.8%#17 · 202565.1%#12 · 20252.8%#20 · 20253.0%#19 · 20253.9%#19 · 202530.1%#9 · 2024
Malawi8.3m#12 · 202562.6%#17 · 202558.2%#15 · 202559.4%#16 · 20255.1%#12 · 20256.0%#12 · 20256.9%#14 · 202539.4%#6 · 2024
Yemen8.2m#13 · 202533.1%#25 · 20254.7%#25 · 202527.4%#25 · 202517.3%#2 · 202530.3%#1 · 202532.6%#3 · 2025—
Syria6.8m#14 · 202536.9%#23 · 202512.7%#23 · 202531.9%#23 · 202513.6%#3 · 202526.1%#2 · 202533.1%#2 · 2025—
Chad6.7m#15 · 202559.4%#18 · 202547.3%#19 · 202558.8%#17 · 20251.1%#23 · 20250.7%#24 · 20251.5%#24 · 202542.3%#4 · 2022
Burundi6.3m#16 · 202578.3%#7 · 202579.5%#2 · 202577.5%#5 · 20250.9%#24 · 20250.8%#23 · 20251.7%#23 · 202511.2%#19 · 2020
Rwanda5.8m#17 · 202563.7%#16 · 202557.3%#16 · 202556.4%#18 · 202511.4%#6 · 202512.8%#7 · 202516.4%#6 · 202515.3%#16 · 2025
South Sudan5.1m#18 · 202373.4%#9 · 202370.4%#9 · 202364.3%#13 · 202312.4%#5 · 202313.6%#6 · 202318.5%#4 · 2023—
Somalia3.6m#19 · 202533.8%#24 · 202520.7%#21 · 202527.4%#24 · 202518.9%#1 · 202524.6%#4 · 202534.2%#1 · 202551.0%#1 · 2022
Sierra Leone2.9m#20 · 202553.4%#19 · 202551.6%#18 · 202551.7%#19 · 20253.1%#17 · 20252.1%#21 · 20253.7%#20 · 202525.9%#10 · 2018
Liberia2.7m#21 · 202576.6%#8 · 202572.0%#8 · 202574.4%#6 · 20252.9%#19 · 20252.2%#20 · 20252.3%#22 · 202539.9%#5 · 2017
Central African Republic2.1m#22 · 202573.4%#10 · 202565.5%#10 · 202568.8%#9 · 20256.3%#10 · 20257.0%#9 · 202510.1%#11 · 2025—
Eritrea1.8m#23 · 202578.3%#6 · 202572.8%#6 · 202573.7%#7 · 20256.0%#11 · 20256.7%#10 · 202510.2%#10 · 2025—
Guinea-Bissau899,220#24 · 202564.8%#14 · 202560.3%#13 · 202563.1%#14 · 20252.7%#22 · 20251.9%#22 · 20252.8%#21 · 202513.2%#18 · 2022
The Gambia807,275#25 · 202547.5%#20 · 202545.5%#20 · 202544.4%#20 · 20256.5%#9 · 20256.1%#11 · 202510.9%#9 · 202536.5%#7 · 2025
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)Ranks count group members with a value in the recent window.
within the group

Highest and lowest, indicator by indicator

Labour force25 countries
  1. 1Ethiopia56.8m2025
  2. 2Democratic Republic of the Congo39.2m2025
  3. 3Uganda23.4m2025
Lowest
  1. 25The Gambia807,2752025
  2. 24Guinea-Bissau899,2202025
  3. 23Eritrea1.8m2025
Median country 8.2m · group 267m
Participation rate25 countries
  1. 1Madagascar85.5%2025
  2. 2North Korea82.2%2025
  3. 3Uganda80.0%2025
Lowest
  1. 25Yemen33.1%2025
  2. 24Somalia33.8%2025
  3. 23Syria36.9%2025
Median country 67.0% · group 64.4%
Women's participation25 countries
  1. 1Madagascar82.9%2025
  2. 2Burundi79.5%2025
  3. 3North Korea77.7%2025
Lowest
  1. 25Yemen4.7%2025
  2. 24Afghanistan5.1%2025
  3. 23Syria12.7%2025
Median country 60.3% · group 54.7%
Employment rate25 countries
  1. 1Madagascar82.9%2025
  2. 2Niger79.4%2025
  3. 3North Korea79.2%2025
Lowest
  1. 25Yemen27.4%2025
  2. 24Somalia27.4%2025
  3. 23Syria31.9%2025
Median country 64.3% · group 61.2%
Unemployment25 countries
  1. 1Somalia18.9%2025
  2. 2Yemen17.3%2025
  3. 3Syria13.6%2025
Lowest
  1. 25Niger0.4%2025
  2. 24Burundi0.9%2025
  3. 23Chad1.1%2025
Median country 4.4% · group 4.9%
Female unemployment25 countries
  1. 1Yemen30.3%2025
  2. 2Syria26.1%2025
  3. 3Afghanistan25.0%2025
Lowest
  1. 25Niger0.3%2025
  2. 24Chad0.7%2025
  3. 23Burundi0.8%2025
Median country 4.5% · group 4.7%
Youth unemployment25 countries
  1. 1Somalia34.2%2025
  2. 2Syria33.1%2025
  3. 3Yemen32.6%2025
Lowest
  1. 25Niger0.5%2025
  2. 24Chad1.5%2025
  3. 23Burundi1.7%2025
Median country 7.8% · group 10.1%
Youth NEET rate19 countries
  1. 1Somalia51.0%2022
  2. 2Sudan46.5%2022
  3. 3Afghanistan43.8%2021
Lowest
  1. 19Burundi11.2%2020
  2. 18Guinea-Bissau13.2%2022
  3. 17Uganda13.8%2021
Median country 25.9%
Wage workers25 countries
  1. 1Rwanda59.6%2025
  2. 2Syria57.6%2025
  3. 3Sudan53.5%2022
Lowest
  1. 25Chad8.4%2025
  2. 24Niger10.5%2025
  3. 23Sierra Leone11.2%2025
Median country 19.5% · group 21.1%
Vulnerable employment25 countries
  1. 1Chad90.2%2025
  2. 2Sierra Leone86.0%2025
  3. 3Madagascar84.4%2025
Lowest
  1. 25Syria38.9%2025
  2. 24Rwanda39.4%2025
  3. 23Sudan39.7%2022
Median country 76.9% · group 76.1%
Jobs in agriculture25 countries
  1. 1Burundi85.3%2025
  2. 2Mozambique73.0%2025
  3. 3Niger73.0%2025
Lowest
  1. 25Syria16.3%2025
  2. 24The Gambia27.6%2025
  3. 23Somalia30.0%2025
Median country 58.5% · group 59.4%
Jobs in industry25 countries
  1. 1Syria25.2%2025
  2. 2North Korea22.4%2025
  3. 3Afghanistan18.9%2025
Lowest
  1. 25South Sudan1.7%2023
  2. 24Burundi3.1%2025
  3. 23Mozambique6.4%2025
Median country 9.9% · group 10.2%
Jobs in services25 countries
  1. 1Syria58.5%2025
  2. 2Yemen57.3%2025
  3. 3The Gambia53.6%2025
Lowest
  1. 25Burundi11.6%2025
  2. 24Niger17.7%2025
  3. 23Chad19.8%2025
Median country 31.6% · group 30.4%
more

Other topics in low-income countries

Low income: overview
PopulationEconomyPrices & public financeTrade & investmentAid, poverty & equalityEducationHealthDigital & energy accessEnvironment