Brazil vs South Africa: Share of employment outside the formal sector
Share of employment outside the formal sector over time
- Brazil
- South Africa
How they compare
Brazil currently reports 34.57 against 30.68 in South Africa, a difference of 3.89.
That makes Brazil's figure about 1.1 times South Africa's.
Across all 15 years both countries report, Brazil has been ahead every year.
Brazil ranks 39th and South Africa ranks 42nd of 81 countries.
Brazil has averaged higher in every one of the 3 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Brazil | South Africa | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 46.01 | 29.28 | 16.73 | Brazil |
| 2010s | 36.43 | 29.01 | 7.41 | Brazil |
| 2020s | 36.32 | 29 | 7.32 | Brazil |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher share of employment outside the formal sector, Brazil or South Africa?
- Brazil, at 34.57 against 30.68 in South Africa as of 2025.
- What is the difference in share of employment outside the formal sector between Brazil and South Africa?
- 3.89, with Brazil ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Brazil and South Africa?
- 15 years are reported by both, from 2009 to 2024.
- How do Brazil and South Africa rank globally for share of employment outside the formal sector?
- Brazil ranks 39th and South Africa ranks 42nd of 81 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- International Labour Organization, published as Share of employment outside the formal sector (previous ILO definition - ICLS13). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
With the aim of promoting international comparability, statistics presented on ILOSTAT are based on standard international definitions wherever feasible and may differ from official national figures. This series is based on the 13th ICLS definitions. For time series comparability, it includes countries that have implemented the 19th ICLS standards, for which data are also available in the Work Statistics -- 19th ICLS (WORK) database. This harmonized series for employment outside the formal sector is derived using the same set of criteria across countries to improve comparability. The criteria used are based on employment status, institutional sector, destination of production, bookkeeping, registration, social security contribution, places of work and size. Data disaggregated by economic activity are provided according to the latest version of the International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC) available for that year. Data may have been regrouped from national classifications, which may not be strictly compatible with ISIC. For more information, refer to the Labour Force Statistics (LFS and STLFS) database description.