Statizoid

Share of workers employed in services vs. GDP per capita by country

The vertical axis shows historical estimates of the employment share in the service sector. The horizontal axis shows GDP per capita, adjusted for inflation and differences in living costs between countries.

Countries reporting
44
Highest
88.2%
Hong Kong
Lowest
16.6%
Ethiopia
Median
61.8%
Years covered
215
1801–2015
Data points
2,481

What the numbers show

Share of workers employed in services vs. GDP per capita is currently reported for 44 countries. The highest value is 88.2% in Hong Kong; the lowest is 16.6% in Ethiopia.

The median across all reporting countries is 61.8%, and the mean is 57.7%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 5.

Over the past decade 42 countries rose and 2 fell. The largest increase was in Malawi (up 97.7%), and the largest decrease in Zambia (down 10.4%).

Share of workers employed in services vs. GDP per capita: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Hong Kong 88.2% 2011 up 7.4% rising
2 United States 83.7% 2015 up 3.5% rising
3 Netherlands 80.8% 2011 up 4.3% rising
4 United Kingdom 79.1% 2011 up 4.4% rising
5 Belgium 78.6% 2007 up 5.5% rising
6 Denmark 78.4% 2011 up 6.4% rising
7 France 77.0% 2007 up 4.9% rising
8 Argentina 72.9% 2011 down 0.1% rising
9 Japan 72.7% 2012 up 8.2% rising
10 Sweden 72.1% 2010 up 4.3% volatile
11 Singapore 70.9% 2011 up 4.7% rising
12 Venezuela 70.5% 2011 up 1.6% rising
13 Finland 69.9% 2007 up 5.3% rising
14 Chile 69.8% 2011 up 5.6% rising
15 Italy 69.6% 2011 up 4.8% rising
16 Costa Rica 68.2% 2011 up 13.9% rising
17 Spain 67.0% 2007 up 4.4% rising
18 South Korea 66.9% 2010 up 8.8% rising
19 Brazil 64.2% 2011 up 7.0% rising
20 Mauritius 64.1% 2011 up 25.9% rising
21 Germany 64.0% 1991 up 6.5% rising
22 South Africa 62.6% 2011 up 3.1% rising
23 Colombia 61.0% 2010 up 6.1% rising
24 Malaysia 60.6% 2011 up 16.8% rising
25 Peru 60.4% 2011 up 6.3% rising
26 Mexico 60.2% 2011 up 6.7% rising
27 Taiwan 59.7% 2012 up 3.8% rising
28 Bolivia 58.0% 2010 up 25.5% rising
29 Egypt 53.6% 2012 up 10.1% rising
30 Philippines 52.2% 2012 up 9.4% rising
31 Botswana 50.8% 2010 up 16.5% rising
32 Morocco 48.3% 2012 up 20.1% rising
33 Indonesia 45.6% 2012 up 20.6% rising
34 Ghana 44.0% 2011 up 37.1% rising
35 Thailand 41.0% 2011 up 15.8% rising
36 China 36.2% 2011 up 28.8% rising
36 Kenya 36.2% 2011 up 15.3% rising
38 Senegal 34.7% 2010 up 12.3% rising
39 Nigeria 31.6% 2011 up 1.6% rising
40 India 26.1% 2010 up 10.1% rising
41 Malawi 25.7% 2010 up 97.7% rising
42 Tanzania 23.8% 2011 up 67.6% rising
43 Zambia 20.6% 2010 down 10.4% falling
44 Ethiopia 16.6% 2011 up 50.9% rising

About this data

Indicator
Share of workers employed in services vs. GDP per capita
Unit
%
Source
Herrendorf et al. and Groningen Growth and Development Centre (2015) – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
44 places, 2,481 data points, 1801–2015
Last refreshed

The vertical axis shows historical estimates of the employment share in the service sector. The horizontal axis shows GDP per capita, adjusted for inflation and differences in living costs between countries.