Collective bargaining coverage rate by country
The collective bargaining coverage rate conveys the number of employees whose pay and/or conditions of employment are determined by one or more collective agreement(s) as a percentage of the total number of employees. Collective bargaining coverage includes, to the extent possible, workers covered by collective...
What the numbers show
Collective bargaining coverage rate is currently reported for 68 countries. The highest value is 99 in Italy; the lowest is 0.4 in Malaysia.
The median across all reporting countries is 27.45, and the mean is 35.64.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 248.
Over the past decade 23 countries rose and 36 fell. The largest increase was in Colombia (up 1,862.5%), and the largest decrease in Ethiopia (down 89.8%).
Collective bargaining coverage rate: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italy | 99 | 2019 | unchanged | flat |
| 2 | Austria | 98 | 2019 | unchanged | flat |
| 2 | France | 98 | 2018 | unchanged | flat |
| 4 | Belgium | 96 | 2019 | unchanged | flat |
| 5 | Uruguay | 94.7 | 2018 | up 2.6% | flat |
| 6 | Sweden | 90 | 2019 | up 1.1% | falling |
| 6 | Iceland | 90 | 2019 | unchanged | flat |
| 8 | Finland | 89.2 | 2018 | up 1.9% | flat |
| 9 | Denmark | 80.3 | 2018 | down 0.9% | flat |
| 10 | Spain | 80.1 | 2018 | up 1.5% | flat |
| 11 | Portugal | 76.5 | 2018 | down 11.1% | falling |
| 12 | Netherlands | 75.6 | 2019 | down 12.4% | falling |
| 13 | Norway | 69 | 2017 | down 1.4% | flat |
| 14 | Brazil | 64.8 | 2020 | up 10.2% | falling |
| 15 | Tunisia | 62.9 | 2019 | up 14.6% | rising |
| 16 | Australia | 61.2 | 2018 | up 3.2% | flat |
| 17 | Luxembourg | 55 | 2014 | down 5.2% | falling |
| 18 | Germany | 51.8 | 2019 | down 16.0% | falling |
| 19 | Albania | 51.1 | 2018 | up 25.9% | rising |
| 20 | Argentina | 49.4 | 2018 | down 2.9% | flat |
| 21 | Switzerland | 47.7 | 2018 | up 6.7% | rising |
| 22 | China | 45 | 2017 | up 179.5% | rising |
| 23 | Cyprus | 43.3 | 2016 | down 25.5% | falling |
| 24 | Republic of Moldova | 43 | 2020 | up 1.7% | flat |
| 25 | Namibia | 40.9 | 2020 | — | rising |
| 26 | Ukraine | 40.2 | 2020 | down 26.4% | falling |
| 27 | Ghana | 38.4 | 2020 | down 13.7% | falling |
| 28 | Botswana | 34.5 | 2020 | — | falling |
| 29 | Ireland | 33.5 | 2014 | down 19.7% | falling |
| 30 | Czechia | 32.1 | 2019 | down 8.3% | flat |
| 31 | Canada | 31.3 | 2020 | down 0.3% | falling |
| 32 | South Africa | 30.1 | 2019 | down 8.5% | falling |
| 33 | Russian Federation | 28.5 | 2019 | up 8.0% | rising |
| 34 | Zambia | 27.6 | 2020 | down 27.4% | falling |
| 35 | Latvia | 27.3 | 2019 | up 31.9% | rising |
| 36 | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 26.9 | 2019 | down 17.7% | falling |
| 37 | Greece | 25.8 | 2018 | down 69.2% | volatile |
| 38 | Slovakia | 22.4 | 2019 | down 44.0% | falling |
| 39 | Chile | 21 | 2018 | up 41.9% | rising |
| 40 | Armenia | 19.4 | 2019 | down 23.3% | falling |
| 41 | New Zealand | 18.6 | 2020 | up 19.2% | falling |
| 42 | Hungary | 17.8 | 2019 | down 33.8% | falling |
| 43 | Poland | 17.2 | 2015 | down 9.0% | falling |
| 44 | Japan | 16.8 | 2019 | down 6.1% | falling |
| 45 | Colombia | 15.7 | 2016 | up 1,862.5% | volatile |
| 46 | Republic of Korea | 15.6 | 2019 | up 25.8% | rising |
| 47 | Romania | 15 | 2017 | down 84.7% | falling |
| 47 | Estonia | 15 | 2018 | down 40.0% | falling |
| 49 | United States of America | 12.1 | 2020 | down 4.0% | falling |
| 50 | Costa Rica | 11.8 | 2020 | up 156.5% | rising |
| 51 | Bulgaria | 10.8 | 2016 | up 1.9% | flat |
| 52 | Mexico | 10.4 | 2019 | up 13.0% | flat |
| 53 | Senegal | 10.1 | 2019 | down 27.9% | falling |
| 54 | Lithuania | 7.4 | 2019 | down 32.1% | falling |
| 54 | Türkiye | 7.4 | 2019 | up 68.2% | rising |
| 56 | Nicaragua | 6.7 | 2020 | down 25.6% | falling |
| 57 | El Salvador | 4.6 | 2018 | down 4.2% | flat |
| 58 | Sri Lanka | 3.2 | 2019 | down 42.9% | falling |
| 59 | Morocco | 3 | 2020 | — | flat |
| 60 | Peru | 2.6 | 2020 | up 44.4% | rising |
| 61 | Panama | 2 | 2017 | up 81.8% | volatile |
| 62 | Honduras | 1.9 | 2016 | down 66.1% | falling |
| 63 | Bangladesh | 1.6 | 2020 | down 68.0% | falling |
| 64 | Philippines | 1.4 | 2018 | unchanged | falling |
| 65 | Thailand | 1.1 | 2020 | down 35.3% | rising |
| 66 | Ethiopia | 1 | 2019 | down 89.8% | volatile |
| 67 | Paraguay | 0.7 | 2016 | down 12.5% | falling |
| 68 | Malaysia | 0.4 | 2018 | down 83.3% | falling |
About this data
The collective bargaining coverage rate conveys the number of employees whose pay and/or conditions of employment are determined by one or more collective agreement(s) as a percentage of the total number of employees. Collective bargaining coverage includes, to the extent possible, workers covered by collective agreements in virtue of their extension. Collective bargaining coverage rates are adjusted for the possibility that some workers do not have the right to bargain collectively over wages (e.g. workers in the public services who have their wages determined by state regulation or other methods involving consultation), unless otherwise stated in the notes. The statistics presented in this table result from an ILO data compilation effort (including an annual questionnaire and numerous special enquiries), with contributions from J. Visser. For more information, refer to the Industrial Relations data (IRdata) database description.