Labor force, male (% of total labor force) by country
Male labor force as a percentage of the total show the extent to which men are active in the labor force. Labor force comprises people ages 15 and older who meet the International Labour Organization's definition of the economically active population.
What the numbers show
Labor force, male (% of total labor force) is currently reported for 52 countries. The highest value is 82.9% in Algeria; the lowest is 46.7% in Mozambique.
The median across all reporting countries is 54.0%, and the mean is 57.6%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 2.
Over the past decade 19 countries rose and 33 fell. The largest increase was in Lesotho (up 5.5%), and the largest decrease in Mauritius (down 4.7%).
Labor force, male: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Algeria | 82.9% | 2011 | down 3.8% | falling |
| 2 | Egypt | 75.7% | 2011 | down 3.1% | flat |
| 3 | Mauritania | 73.3% | 2011 | down 3.9% | falling |
| 4 | Tunisia | 73.0% | 2011 | down 2.4% | falling |
| 5 | Morocco | 72.6% | 2011 | down 2.7% | flat |
| 6 | Libya | 71.8% | 2011 | down 2.1% | falling |
| 7 | Sudan | 71.2% | 2011 | down 1.3% | flat |
| 8 | Comoros | 69.6% | 2011 | down 3.1% | falling |
| 9 | Niger | 68.7% | 2011 | up 0.9% | falling |
| 10 | Somalia | 66.3% | 2011 | down 1.3% | flat |
| 11 | Djibouti | 64.9% | 2011 | down 3.6% | falling |
| 12 | Mali | 64.7% | 2011 | up 2.5% | rising |
| 13 | Sao Tome and Principe | 62.6% | 2011 | down 3.1% | falling |
| 14 | Côte d'Ivoire | 62.4% | 2011 | down 3.6% | falling |
| 15 | Mauritius | 62.2% | 2011 | down 4.7% | falling |
| 16 | Cape Verde | 61.5% | 2011 | down 0.5% | flat |
| 17 | Eswatini | 60.5% | 2011 | up 1.2% | flat |
| 18 | South Africa | 57.3% | 2011 | up 1.6% | falling |
| 19 | Nigeria | 57.2% | 2011 | down 3.3% | falling |
| 20 | Senegal | 56.1% | 2011 | down 1.4% | flat |
| 21 | Equatorial Guinea | 55.3% | 2011 | down 0.6% | flat |
| 22 | Chad | 54.8% | 2011 | up 0.6% | flat |
| 23 | Guinea | 54.7% | 2011 | down 1.1% | flat |
| 24 | Cameroon | 54.3% | 2011 | down 1.0% | falling |
| 25 | Lesotho | 54.1% | 2011 | up 5.5% | rising |
| 26 | Angola | 54.0% | 2011 | up 4.6% | rising |
| 27 | Zambia | 53.9% | 2011 | up 1.9% | flat |
| 28 | Botswana | 53.7% | 2011 | up 1.1% | flat |
| 29 | Namibia | 53.7% | 2011 | down 2.7% | flat |
| 30 | Gabon | 53.6% | 2011 | down 1.3% | flat |
| 31 | Kenya | 53.5% | 2011 | up 0.5% | flat |
| 32 | Central African Republic | 52.9% | 2011 | down 1.0% | flat |
| 33 | Ethiopia | 52.8% | 2011 | down 3.1% | falling |
| 34 | Guinea-Bissau | 52.7% | 2011 | down 2.9% | falling |
| 35 | Burkina Faso | 52.5% | 2011 | up 1.1% | flat |
| 36 | Liberia | 52.5% | 2011 | up 2.9% | flat |
| 37 | Ghana | 52.4% | 2011 | up 0.9% | flat |
| 38 | Benin | 52.3% | 2011 | down 1.2% | falling |
| 39 | Gambia | 52.0% | 2011 | down 1.5% | falling |
| 40 | Eritrea | 51.4% | 2011 | down 2.2% | flat |
| 41 | Congo | 51.4% | 2011 | down 0.8% | falling |
| 42 | Madagascar | 51.1% | 2011 | down 0.6% | flat |
| 43 | Uganda | 50.7% | 2011 | up 1.3% | flat |
| 44 | Zimbabwe | 50.7% | 2011 | down 4.0% | falling |
| 45 | Tanzania, United Republic of | 50.2% | 2011 | down 0.3% | flat |
| 46 | Congo, Democratic Republic of the | 50.2% | 2011 | up 0.8% | flat |
| 47 | Togo | 49.5% | 2011 | down 2.3% | falling |
| 48 | Sierra Leone | 49.4% | 2011 | up 4.4% | flat |
| 49 | Malawi | 48.6% | 2011 | down 3.8% | flat |
| 50 | Rwanda | 48.3% | 2011 | up 1.5% | flat |
| 51 | Burundi | 48.0% | 2011 | up 2.6% | flat |
| 52 | Mozambique | 46.7% | 2011 | up 3.5% | rising |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
About this data
Male labor force as a percentage of the total show the extent to which men are active in the labor force. Labor force comprises people ages 15 and older who meet the International Labour Organization's definition of the economically active population.