Informal employment in Rwanda
Rwanda: Informal employment was 5,779 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Informal employment in Rwanda, 2017–2025
Source: International Labour Organization.
Analysis
Rwanda recorded 5,779 for informal employment in 2025. That is the highest value across all 9 years on record.
That represents a change of up 41.3% on the previous year and up 83.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, informal employment in Rwanda peaked at 5,779 in 2025 and was at its lowest, 3,147, in 2017.
That places Rwanda 22nd out of 81 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
Informal employment in Rwanda, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 3,147 | — |
| 2018 | 3,278 | +4.1% |
| 2019 | 3,253 | -0.8% |
| 2020 | 3,703 | +13.8% |
| 2021 | 3,433 | -7.3% |
| 2022 | 3,678 | +7.1% |
| 2023 | 4,056 | +10.3% |
| 2024 | 4,089 | +0.8% |
| 2025 | 5,779 | +41.3% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 3,226 | 3,147 | 3,278 | 3 |
| 2020s | 4,123 | 3,433 | 5,779 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Rwanda
More work & labour data for Rwanda
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes, annual 0.267 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male, annual growth 0.2752 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female, annual growth 0.2591 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population, annual growth rate 0.3518 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population, annual growth rate 3.32 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population 6,483 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population 15,403 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female 16,639 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male 16,140 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes 32,779 1000 No (2100)
Frequently asked questions
- What is informal employment in Rwanda?
- Informal employment in Rwanda was 5,779 in 2025, according to International Labour Organization.
- What is the highest informal employment recorded in Rwanda?
- The highest recorded value was 5,779 in 2025.
- What is the lowest informal employment recorded in Rwanda?
- The lowest recorded value was 3,147 in 2017.
- How does Rwanda rank for informal employment?
- Rwanda ranks 22nd out of 81 countries with data for 2025.
- Is informal employment rising or falling in Rwanda?
- Over the last ten years it is up 83.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Rwanda data come from?
- The figures come from International Labour Organization, published as part of Informal employment (previous ILO definition - ICLS13). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
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 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. 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.