Labor force (15-24 years), total by country

Countries reporting

Highest

13.98 million

Ethiopia

Lowest

14,369

Sao Tome and Principe

Median

1.26 million

Years covered

1990–2011

Data points

1,276

What the numbers show

Labor force (15-24 years), total is currently reported for 52 countries. The highest value is 13.98 million in Ethiopia; the lowest is 14,369 in Sao Tome and Principe.

The median across all reporting countries is 1.26 million, and the mean is 1.99 million.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 973.

Over the past decade 45 countries rose and 7 fell. The largest increase was in Equatorial Guinea (up 73.2%), and the largest decrease in Algeria (down 21.6%).

Labor force (15-24 years), total: full country ranking

#	Country	Latest	Year	10-year change	Trend
1	Ethiopia	13.98 million	2011	up 40.2%	rising
2	Nigeria	11.81 million	2011	up 28.7%	rising
3	Tanzania	7.33 million	2011	up 26.1%	rising
4	Democratic Republic of Congo	6.23 million	2011	up 39.4%	rising
5	Egypt	5.42 million	2011	up 31.1%	rising
6	Uganda	4.13 million	2011	up 27.2%	rising
7	Kenya	3.39 million	2011	up 10.4%	rising
8	Mozambique	3.11 million	2011	up 19.9%	rising
9	Madagascar	3.10 million	2011	up 39.8%	rising
10	Sudan	3.09 million	2011	up 25.0%	rising
11	South Africa	2.67 million	2011	up 0.5%	rising
12	Burkina Faso	2.61 million	2011	up 27.7%	rising
13	Zimbabwe	2.50 million	2011	up 29.1%	rising
14	Morocco	2.23 million	2011	down 14.6%	falling
15	Cote d'Ivoire	2.09 million	2011	up 18.5%	rising
16	Angola	2.06 million	2011	up 37.7%	rising
17	Algeria	2.00 million	2011	down 21.6%	rising
18	Cameroon	1.97 million	2011	up 24.9%	rising
19	Ghana	1.91 million	2011	down 7.4%	rising
20	Malawi	1.88 million	2011	up 34.8%	rising
21	Zambia	1.80 million	2011	up 22.3%	rising
22	Senegal	1.75 million	2011	up 27.6%	rising
23	Niger	1.69 million	2011	up 58.0%	rising
24	Rwanda	1.62 million	2011	up 17.8%	rising
25	Chad	1.29 million	2011	up 36.9%	rising
26	Mali	1.27 million	2011	up 30.9%	rising
27	Burundi	1.24 million	2011	up 31.4%	rising
28	Guinea	1.10 million	2011	up 26.2%	rising
29	Benin	1.02 million	2011	up 32.9%	rising
30	Togo	844,512	2011	up 25.7%	rising
31	Eritrea	830,096	2011	up 17.9%	rising
32	Somalia	796,656	2011	up 17.4%	rising
33	Tunisia	644,398	2011	down 9.0%	flat
34	Central African Republic	578,816	2011	up 21.6%	rising
35	Sierra Leone	513,702	2011	up 45.6%	rising
36	Libya	406,607	2011	down 13.0%	rising
37	Congo	358,032	2011	up 22.7%	rising
38	Mauritania	281,942	2011	up 33.0%	rising
39	Liberia	281,451	2011	up 32.8%	rising
40	Botswana	263,388	2011	up 10.0%	rising
41	Gambia	233,491	2011	up 26.3%	rising
42	Lesotho	229,382	2011	down 15.1%	flat
43	Namibia	196,088	2011	up 55.3%	rising
44	Guinea-Bissau	170,224	2011	up 30.3%	rising
45	Eswatini	132,643	2011	up 24.9%	rising
46	Equatorial Guinea	106,257	2011	up 73.2%	rising
47	Mauritius	88,970	2011	down 14.7%	falling
48	Djibouti	85,514	2011	up 23.5%	rising
49	Gabon	81,948	2011	up 17.2%	rising
50	Cape Verde	68,058	2011	up 19.8%	rising
51	Comoros	53,191	2011	up 4.9%	rising
52	Sao Tome and Principe	14,369	2011	up 2.3%	rising

Regions and income groups

Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.

Africa 103.57 million
Sub-Saharan Africa 92.79 million
Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) 92.68 million
Sub-Saharan Africa excluding South Africa 90.12 million
Sub-Saharan Africa excluding South Africa and Nigeria 78.31 million
North Africa 10.78 million

About this data

Indicator: Labor force (15-24 years), total
Source: International Labour Organization, Key Indicators of the Labour Market database
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage: 58 places, 1,276 data points, 1990–2011
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

Total labor force comprises people ages 15-24 who meet the International Labour Organization definition of the economically active population: all people who supply labor for the production of goods and services during a specified period. It includes both the employed and the unemployed. While national practices vary in the treatment of such groups as the armed forces and seasonal or part-time workers, in general the labor force includes the armed forces, the unemployed, and first-time job-seekers, but excludes homemakers and other unpaid caregivers and workers in the informal sector.