Informal employment in France
France: Informal employment was 9.0% in 2024. ▼ Falling
Informal employment in France, 2014–2024
Source: Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO). Measured in % of total agricultural employment.
Analysis
The most recent figure for informal employment in France is 9.0%, measured in 2024.
That represents a change of down 2.6% on the previous year and down 46.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, informal employment in France peaked at 16.6% in 2014 and was at its lowest, 5.0%, in 2022.
That places France 37th out of 44 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 11 years of available data.
Informal employment in France, year by year
| Year | % of total agricultural employment | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 16.6% | — |
| 2015 | 11.3% | -32.2% |
| 2016 | 14.0% | +24.6% |
| 2017 | 13.9% | -0.6% |
| 2018 | 10.5% | -24.8% |
| 2019 | 14.2% | +35.4% |
| 2020 | 12.3% | -13.7% |
| 2021 | 8.9% | -27.4% |
| 2022 | 5.0% | -43.6% |
| 2023 | 9.2% | +83.8% |
| 2024 | 9.0% | -2.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 13.4% | 10.5% | 16.6% | 6 |
| 2020s | 8.9% | 5.0% | 12.3% | 5 |
Countries ranked near France
More work & labour data for France
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes, annual -0.028 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male, annual growth -0.0507 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female, annual growth -0.0063 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population, annual growth rate -1.62 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population, annual growth rate 0.3323 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population 62,374 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population 8,235 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female 35,191 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male 33,294 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes 68,485 1000 No (2100)
Frequently asked questions
- What is informal employment in France?
- Informal employment in France was 9.0% in 2024, according to Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO).
- What is the highest informal employment recorded in France?
- The highest recorded value was 16.6% in 2014.
- What is the lowest informal employment recorded in France?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.0% in 2022.
- How does France rank for informal employment?
- France ranks 37th out of 44 countries with data for 2024.
- Is informal employment rising or falling in France?
- Over the last ten years it is down 46.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this France data come from?
- The figures come from Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO), published as part of Informal employment (% of total agricultural employment). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 11 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
This indicator shows the share of workers at working age in informal employment in agricultural activities out of total employment in agricultural activities, expressed as a percentage. Informal employment comprises persons whose main or secondary jobs are informal. For own-account workers and employers, informality is determined by enterprise characteristics (unincorporated, market-based, and unregistered); for contributing family workers, it is determined by the absence of written contracts and lack of coverage under labor legislation; and for employees, it is determined by whether the employment relationship is not subject to national labor legislation, income taxation, or social protection. The data are based on the statistical standards adopted by the 19th International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS).