Informal employment in Panama
Panama: Informal employment was 92.2% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Informal employment in Panama, 2014–2025
Source: Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO). Measured in % of total agricultural employment.
Analysis
Panama recorded 92.2% for informal employment in 2025. That is the highest value across all 11 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.7% on the previous year and up 6.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, informal employment in Panama peaked at 92.2% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 86.4%, in 2015.
That places Panama 11th out of 44 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 11 years of available data.
Informal employment in Panama, year by year
| Year | % of total agricultural employment | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 86.4% | — |
| 2015 | 86.4% | -0.0% |
| 2016 | 88.8% | +2.8% |
| 2017 | 88.9% | +0.2% |
| 2018 | 88.2% | -0.8% |
| 2019 | 89.0% | +0.9% |
| 2020 | 88.1% | -1.0% |
| 2021 | 89.2% | +1.3% |
| 2023 | 91.7% | +2.7% |
| 2024 | 91.5% | -0.2% |
| 2025 | 92.2% | +0.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 87.9% | 86.4% | 89.0% | 6 |
| 2020s | 90.5% | 88.1% | 92.2% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Panama
More work & labour data for Panama
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes, annual -0.192 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male, annual growth -0.1956 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female, annual growth -0.1888 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population, annual growth rate -1.03 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population, annual growth rate 1.09 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population 4,652 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population 1,175 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female 2,950 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male 2,955 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes 5,905 1000 No (2100)
Frequently asked questions
- What is informal employment in Panama?
- Informal employment in Panama was 92.2% in 2025, according to Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO).
- What is the highest informal employment recorded in Panama?
- The highest recorded value was 92.2% in 2025.
- What is the lowest informal employment recorded in Panama?
- The lowest recorded value was 86.4% in 2015.
- How does Panama rank for informal employment?
- Panama ranks 11th out of 44 countries with data for 2025.
- Is informal employment rising or falling in Panama?
- Over the last ten years it is up 6.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Panama 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).