Employment outside the formal sector in Zambia

Zambia: Employment outside the formal sector was 5,597 in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
5,597
Change on year
up 6.8%
World rank
20th
of 81 countries
All-time high
5,597
in 2024
All-time low
4,067
in 2018
Years of data
8
2017–2024

Employment outside the formal sector in Zambia, 2017–2024

02.0k4.0k6.0k2017202020242017: 4.2k2018: 4.1k2019: 4.2k2020: 4.5k2021: 4.5k2022: 4.6k2023: 5.2k2024: 5.6k

Source: International Labour Organization.

Analysis

In 2024, employment outside the formal sector in Zambia stood at 5,597. That is the highest value across all 8 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 6.8% on the previous year and up 32.3% over ten years.

Zambia ranks 20th of 81 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

Employment outside the formal sector in Zambia, year by year

Annual values for Employment outside the formal sector (previous ILO definition - ICLS13) in Zambia, 2017 to 2024.
Year Value Change
2017 4,229
2018 4,067 -3.8%
2019 4,249 +4.5%
2020 4,471 +5.2%
2021 4,536 +1.4%
2022 4,579 +0.9%
2023 5,239 +14.4%
2024 5,597 +6.8%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2010s 4,182 4,067 4,249 3
2020s 4,884 4,471 5,597 5

Countries ranked near Zambia

  1. 17 Argentina 6,913 compare
  2. 18 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 6,576
  3. 19 Mali 5,788 compare
  4. 21 Rwanda 5,401 compare
  5. 22 South Africa 5,255 compare
  6. 23 Guatemala 5,092 compare

See the full ranking of 81 places →

More work & labour data for Zambia

All data for Zambia →

Frequently asked questions

What is employment outside the formal sector in Zambia?
Employment outside the formal sector in Zambia was 5,597 in 2024, according to International Labour Organization.
What is the highest employment outside the formal sector recorded in Zambia?
The highest recorded value was 5,597 in 2024.
What is the lowest employment outside the formal sector recorded in Zambia?
The lowest recorded value was 4,067 in 2018.
How does Zambia rank for employment outside the formal sector?
Zambia ranks 20th out of 81 countries with data for 2024.
Is employment outside the formal sector rising or falling in Zambia?
Over the last ten years it is up 32.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Zambia data come from?
The figures come from International Labour Organization, published as part of Employment outside the formal sector (previous ILO definition - ICLS13). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Employment outside the formal sector in Zambia. Statizoid, drawing on International Labour Organization. Retrieved 08 September 2026, from https://labour.statizoid.com/stat/employment-outside-the-formal-sector-previous-ilo-definition-icls13/zambia/

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About this data

Indicator
Employment outside the formal sector (previous ILO definition - ICLS13)
Source
International Labour Organization
Licence
ILO Terms of Use (attribution required)
Coverage
81 places, 1,202 data points, 1999–2026
Last refreshed

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 occupation are provided according to the latest version of the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO). Data may have been regrouped from the national classifications, which may not be strictly compatible with ISCO. For more information, refer to the Labour Force Statistics (LFS and STLFS) database description.