Ireland vs Portugal: Share of employment outside the formal sector
Share of employment outside the formal sector over time
- Ireland
- Portugal
How they compare
Portugal currently reports 4.11 against 3.77 in Ireland, a difference of 0.34.
That makes Portugal's figure about 1.1 times Ireland's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 19 shared years of data; in 2007 it was Ireland ahead.
Ireland ranks 71st and Portugal ranks 68th of 81 countries.
Across the 3 decades both report, Ireland averaged higher in 1 and Portugal in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Ireland | Portugal | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 8.17 | 6.23 | 1.94 | Ireland |
| 2010s | 5.23 | 7.93 | 2.7 | Portugal |
| 2020s | 3.26 | 6.89 | 3.63 | Portugal |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher share of employment outside the formal sector, Ireland or Portugal?
- Portugal, at 4.11 against 3.77 in Ireland as of 2025.
- What is the difference in share of employment outside the formal sector between Ireland and Portugal?
- 0.34, with Portugal ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Ireland and Portugal?
- 19 years are reported by both, from 2007 to 2025.
- How do Ireland and Portugal rank globally for share of employment outside the formal sector?
- Ireland ranks 71st and Portugal ranks 68th 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.