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Law in Charts · Women, work and the law

Women in the labour force

What share of women aged 15 and over are working or looking for work, in each country?

187 of 187 shown in the list

% of women aged 15 and over in the labour force

  1. Madagascar82.9% 2025
  2. Solomon Islands82.3% 2025
  3. Nigeria80.7% 2025
  4. Tanzania80.3% 2025
  5. Burundi79.5% 2025
  6. North Korea77.7% 2025
  7. Cambodia77.4% 2025
  8. Mozambique77.1% 2025
  9. Uganda75.6% 2025
  10. Benin75.2% 2025
  11. Bolivia72.9% 2025
  12. Eritrea72.8% 2025
  13. Niger72.8% 2025
  14. Moldova72.3% 2025
  15. Angola72.2% 2025
  16. Liberia72.0% 2025
  17. Bahamas70.7% 2025
  18. South Sudan70.4% 2023
  19. Iceland70.0% 2025
  20. Viet Nam68.6% 2025
  21. New Zealand66.1% 2025
  22. Republic of the Congo65.6% 2025
  23. Central African Republic65.5% 2025
  24. Peru65.0% 2025
  25. Burkina Faso64.1% 2025

Source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO), uri: https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/bulk/, publisher: ILOSTAT, type: external d, Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15+) (modeled ILO estimate), via the World Bank. Data for 2021 to 2025. What it counts, how to cite it and the data

At a glance

  • 187 countries or territories have a figure.
  • The highest is Madagascar at 82.9% (2025) and the lowest is Yemen at 4.7% (2025).
  • The middle value (the median) is 53.0%.

What it counts

Women aged 15 and over who are working or actively looking for work, as a share of all women of that age (a modelled estimate by the International Labour Organization).

What it leaves out, and how far to trust a comparison

The figures are modelled estimates, and unpaid work at home and informal work are only partly counted. They say nothing about pay or the rights of workers, and the age structure of a country moves the figure.

Source

ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO), uri: https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/bulk/, publisher: ILOSTAT, type: external d: Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15+) (modeled ILO estimate), via the World Bank, compiled in World Bank, World Development Indicators. Source licence: CC BY 4.0. Data retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25.

Cite this chart

Free to use in teaching, articles, reports and slides, with credit. Our compilation is licensed CC BY 4.0; the source publishes the underlying data under its own licence, shown below.

Reference (APA style)

TheLawToKnow. (2026). Women in the labour force [Chart]. Law in Charts. https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/women-labour-force-participation. Data: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO), uri: https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/bulk/, publisher: ILOSTAT, type: external d, Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15+) (modeled ILO estimate), via the World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.CACT.FE.ZS (data retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25).

Short credit for slides and websites

Chart: TheLawToKnow, Law in Charts (https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/women-labour-force-participation). Data: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO), uri: https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/bulk/, publisher: ILOSTAT, type: external d, via World Bank, World Development Indicators.

BibTeX

@misc{womenlabourforceparticipation2026,
  author = {{TheLawToKnow}},
  title = {Women in the labour force},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Law in Charts},
  url = {https://tools.thelawtoknow.com/law-in-charts/women-labour-force-participation},
  note = {Data: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO), uri: https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/bulk/, publisher: ILOSTAT, type: external d, Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15+) (modeled ILO estimate), via the World Bank, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.CACT.FE.ZS. Retrieved 2026-10-23 to 2026-10-25.}
}

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