Informal employment rate in Zambia

Zambia: Informal employment rate was 68.9 in 2024. ▬ Flat

Latest (2024)
68.9
Change on year
down 2.6%
World rank
5th
of 47 countries
All-time high
73.69
in 2021
All-time low
68.9
in 2024
Years of data
8
2017–2024

Informal employment rate in Zambia, 2017–2024

0204060802017202020242017: 69.22018: 712019: 70.42020: 70.22021: 73.72022: 73.52023: 70.72024: 68.9

Source: International Labour Organization.

Analysis

Zambia recorded 68.9 for informal employment rate in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 8 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is down 2.6% on the previous year and down 0.4% over ten years.

That places Zambia 5th out of 47 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the top 10%.

Informal employment rate in Zambia, year by year

Annual values for Informal employment rate (current ILO definition - ICLS19) in Zambia, 2017 to 2024.
Year Value Change
2017 69.19
2018 71.03 +2.7%
2019 70.41 -0.9%
2020 70.2 -0.3%
2021 73.69 +5.0%
2022 73.5 -0.3%
2023 70.75 -3.7%
2024 68.9 -2.6%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2010s 70.21 69.19 71.03 3
2020s 71.41 68.9 73.69 5

Countries ranked near Zambia

  1. 2 Rwanda 86.75 compare
  2. 3 Zimbabwe 73.86 compare
  3. 4 Botswana 72.31 compare
  4. 6 Viet Nam 64.57 compare
  5. 7 El Salvador 59.48 compare
  6. 8 Panama 55.73 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 rate in Zambia?
Informal employment rate in Zambia was 68.9 in 2024, according to International Labour Organization.
What is the highest informal employment rate recorded in Zambia?
The highest recorded value was 73.69 in 2021.
What is the lowest informal employment rate recorded in Zambia?
The lowest recorded value was 68.9 in 2024.
How does Zambia rank for informal employment rate?
Zambia ranks 5th out of 47 countries with data for 2024.
Is informal employment rate rising or falling in Zambia?
Over the last ten years it is down 0.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is flat.
Where does this Zambia data come from?
The figures come from International Labour Organization, published as part of Informal employment rate (current ILO definition - ICLS19). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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

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About this data

Indicator
Informal employment rate (current ILO definition - ICLS19)
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.