Informal employment (current ILO definition - ICLS19) in Zambia

Zambia: Informal employment (current ILO definition - ICLS19) was 2,737 in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
2,737
Change on year
down 2.8%
World rank
7th
of 47 countries
All-time high
2,816
in 2023
All-time low
1,911
in 2017
Years of data
8
2017–2024

Informal employment (current ILO definition - ICLS19) in Zambia, 2017–2024

01.0k2.0k3.0k2017202020242017: 1.9k2018: 2.2k2019: 2.1k2020: 2.1k2021: 2.3k2022: 2.4k2023: 2.8k2024: 2.7k

Source: International Labour Organization.

Analysis

Zambia recorded 2,737 for informal employment (current ilo definition - icls19) in 2024.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 2.8% on the previous year and up 43.2% over ten years.

That places Zambia 7th out of 47 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.

Informal employment (current ILO definition - ICLS19) in Zambia, year by year

Annual values for Informal employment (current ILO definition - ICLS19) (15+) in Zambia, 2017 to 2024.
Year Value Change
2017 1,911
2018 2,201 +15.2%
2019 2,109 -4.2%
2020 2,098 -0.5%
2021 2,330 +11.1%
2022 2,406 +3.2%
2023 2,816 +17.1%
2024 2,737 -2.8%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2010s 2,074 1,911 2,201 3
2020s 2,478 2,098 2,816 5

Countries ranked near Zambia

  1. 4 Angola 12,106 compare
  2. 5 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 6,359
  3. 6 Rwanda 4,177 compare
  4. 8 Chile 2,458 compare
  5. 9 Italy 2,071 compare
  6. 10 Zimbabwe 2,016 compare

See the full ranking of 47 places →

More work & labour data for Zambia

All data for Zambia →

Frequently asked questions

What is informal employment (current ilo definition - icls19) in Zambia?
Informal employment (current ilo definition - icls19) in Zambia was 2,737 in 2024, according to International Labour Organization.
What is the highest informal employment (current ilo definition - icls19) recorded in Zambia?
The highest recorded value was 2,816 in 2023.
What is the lowest informal employment (current ilo definition - icls19) recorded in Zambia?
The lowest recorded value was 1,911 in 2017.
How does Zambia rank for informal employment (current ilo definition - icls19)?
Zambia ranks 7th out of 47 countries with data for 2024.
Is informal employment (current ilo definition - icls19) rising or falling in Zambia?
Over the last ten years it is up 43.2%. 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 Informal employment (current ILO definition - ICLS19) (15+). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Informal employment (current ILO definition - ICLS19) in Zambia. Statizoid, drawing on International Labour Organization. Retrieved 05 September 2026, from https://labour.statizoid.com/stat/informal-employment-current-ilo-definition-icls19-15/zambia/

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About this data

Indicator
Informal employment (current ILO definition - ICLS19) (15+)
Source
International Labour Organization
Licence
ILO Terms of Use (attribution required)
Coverage
47 places, 461 data points, 2014–2025
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 includes only countries for which the 19th ICLS definitions are applied. This harmonized series for informal employment 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. For more information, refer to the Work Statistics -- 19th ICLS (WORK) database description.