Informal employment rate in Western Africa

Western Africa: Informal employment rate was 90.78 in 2027. ▼ Falling

Latest (2027)
90.78
Change on year
down 0.2%
Rank
2nd
of 87 groups
All-time high
97.64
in 2004
All-time low
90.78
in 2027
Years of data
24
2004–2027

Informal employment rate in Western Africa, 2004–2027

0204060801002004201520272004: 97.62005: 97.62006: 97.42007: 97.42008: 97.22009: 96.82010: 962011: 95.42012: 94.82013: 94.82014: 94.42015: 94.12016: 93.12017: 92.82018: 92.22019: 91.72020: 92.12021: 92.72022: 922023: 91.92024: 91.72025: 91.22026: 912027: 90.8

Source: International Labour Organization.

Analysis

Western Africa recorded 90.78 for informal employment rate in 2027. That is the lowest value across all 24 years on record.

That represents a change of down 0.2% on the previous year and down 2.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, informal employment rate in Western Africa peaked at 97.64 in 2004 and was at its lowest, 90.78, in 2027.

Western Africa ranks 2nd of 87 groups on this measure, in the top 10%.

The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 24 years of available data.

Informal employment rate in Western Africa, year by year

Annual values for Informal employment rate (ILO modelled estimates) in Western Africa, 2004 to 2027.
Year Value Change
2004 97.64
2005 97.56 -0.1%
2006 97.41 -0.1%
2007 97.36 -0.1%
2008 97.17 -0.2%
2009 96.8 -0.4%
2010 96.04 -0.8%
2011 95.43 -0.6%
2012 94.76 -0.7%
2013 94.75 -0.0%
2014 94.38 -0.4%
2015 94.12 -0.3%
2016 93.08 -1.1%
2017 92.81 -0.3%
2018 92.17 -0.7%
2019 91.75 -0.5%
2020 92.06 +0.3%
2021 92.74 +0.7%
2022 91.99 -0.8%
2023 91.9 -0.1%
2024 91.69 -0.2%
2025 91.21 -0.5%
2026 90.99 -0.2%
2027 90.78 -0.2%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
2000s 97.32 96.8 97.64 6
2010s 93.93 91.75 96.04 10
2020s 91.67 90.78 92.74 8

More work & labour data for Western Africa

All data for Western Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is informal employment rate in Western Africa?
Informal employment rate in Western Africa was 90.78 in 2027, according to International Labour Organization.
What is the highest informal employment rate recorded in Western Africa?
The highest recorded value was 97.64 in 2004.
What is the lowest informal employment rate recorded in Western Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 90.78 in 2027.
How does Western Africa rank for informal employment rate?
Western Africa ranks 2nd out of 87 groups with data for 2027.
Is informal employment rate rising or falling in Western Africa?
Over the last ten years it is down 2.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
Where does this Western Africa data come from?
The figures come from International Labour Organization, published as part of Informal employment rate (ILO modelled estimates). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under ILO Terms of Use (attribution required).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Informal employment rate in Western Africa. Statizoid, drawing on International Labour Organization. Retrieved 06 September 2026, from https://labour.statizoid.com/stat/informal-employment-rate-ilo-modelled-estimates/western-africa/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under ILO Terms of Use (attribution required); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://labour.statizoid.com/stat/informal-employment-rate-ilo-modelled-estimates/western-africa/">Informal employment rate in Western Africa</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Informal employment rate (ILO modelled estimates)
Source
International Labour Organization
Licence
ILO Terms of Use (attribution required)
Coverage
87 places, 2,088 data points, 2004–2027
Last refreshed

Imputed observations are not based on national data, are subject to high uncertainty and should not be used for country comparisons or rankings. This series is based on the 13th ICLS definitions. Informal employment comprises persons who in their main or secondary jobs were (a) own-account workers, employers and members of producers' cooperatives employed in their own informal sector enterprises; (b) own-account workers engaged in the production of goods exclusively for own final use by their household (e.g. subsistence farming); (c) contributing family workers, regardless of whether they work in formal or informal sector enterprises; or (d) employees holding informal jobs, whether employed by formal sector enterprises, informal sector enterprises, or as paid domestic workers by households. For more information, refer to the ILO Modelled Estimates (ILOEST) database description.