Labour force (current ILO definition - ICLS19) (15+) by country
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. The labour force is the sum of...
What the numbers show
Labour force (current ILO definition - ICLS19) (15+) is currently reported for 69 countries. The highest value is 170,807 in United States; the lowest is 125.72 in New Caledonia.
The median across all reporting countries is 3,435, and the mean is 13,875.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 1,359.
Over the past decade 55 countries rose and 11 fell. The largest increase was in Ghana (up 337.1%), and the largest decrease in Republic of Moldova (down 10.8%).
Labour force (current ILO definition - ICLS19): full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 170,807 | 2025 | up 8.7% | rising |
| 2 | Brazil | 108,799 | 2025 | up 8.2% | rising |
| 3 | Russian Federation | 75,060 | 2025 | up 0.6% | flat |
| 4 | Japan | 70,040 | 2025 | up 7.1% | rising |
| 5 | Viet Nam | 52,516 | 2024 | β | flat |
| 6 | Ghana | 46,707 | 2024 | up 337.1% | volatile |
| 7 | Germany | 44,246 | 2025 | up 4.9% | flat |
| 8 | United Kingdom | 35,877 | 2025 | up 8.7% | rising |
| 9 | France | 31,834 | 2025 | up 8.0% | rising |
| 10 | Korea | 29,710 | 2025 | up 8.8% | rising |
| 11 | Italy | 25,693 | 2025 | up 0.8% | flat |
| 12 | Spain | 24,829 | 2025 | up 8.3% | rising |
| 13 | Canada | 22,568 | 2025 | up 17.5% | rising |
| 14 | Poland | 17,742 | 2025 | β | flat |
| 15 | Australia | 15,244 | 2025 | up 21.8% | rising |
| 16 | Angola | 14,511 | 2025 | up 34.2% | rising |
| 17 | Taiwan, China | 11,964 | 2020 | up 3.7% | flat |
| 18 | Chile | 10,313 | 2025 | up 16.1% | rising |
| 19 | Netherlands | 10,295 | 2025 | up 15.3% | rising |
| 20 | United Arab Emirates | 9,423 | 2024 | up 24.4% | rising |
| 21 | Romania | 8,195 | 2025 | down 10.5% | falling |
| 22 | Sweden | 5,839 | 2025 | up 11.8% | rising |
| 23 | Portugal | 5,597 | 2025 | up 7.6% | rising |
| 24 | Rwanda | 5,497 | 2025 | up 50.9% | rising |
| 25 | Belgium | 5,486 | 2025 | up 10.3% | rising |
| 26 | Czechia | 5,404 | 2025 | up 1.8% | flat |
| 27 | Switzerland | 5,134 | 2025 | up 7.7% | rising |
| 28 | Hungary | 4,903 | 2025 | up 8.5% | rising |
| 29 | Austria | 4,776 | 2025 | up 8.4% | rising |
| 30 | Greece | 4,761 | 2025 | down 0.3% | flat |
| 31 | Zambia | 4,561 | 2024 | up 45.0% | rising |
| 32 | Israel | 4,476 | 2025 | up 16.8% | rising |
| 33 | Hong Kong, China | 3,811 | 2025 | down 2.4% | flat |
| 34 | Zimbabwe | 3,613 | 2024 | up 4.0% | flat |
| 35 | Jordan | 3,435 | 2024 | up 32.8% | rising |
| 36 | Denmark | 3,307 | 2025 | up 14.4% | rising |
| 37 | Serbia | 3,129 | 2025 | β | flat |
| 38 | Norway | 3,059 | 2025 | up 10.9% | rising |
| 39 | Bulgaria | 3,037 | 2025 | down 9.0% | falling |
| 40 | New Zealand | 3,036 | 2025 | up 21.3% | rising |
| 41 | Ireland | 2,955 | 2025 | up 29.4% | rising |
| 42 | Finland | 2,891 | 2025 | up 7.5% | rising |
| 43 | Slovak Republic | 2,760 | 2025 | up 0.7% | flat |
| 44 | El Salvador | 2,709 | 2025 | up 9.8% | rising |
| 45 | Singapore | 2,456 | 2025 | up 10.0% | rising |
| 46 | Costa Rica | 2,381 | 2025 | up 2.0% | rising |
| 47 | Qatar | 2,243 | 2024 | up 32.7% | rising |
| 48 | Panama | 2,147 | 2025 | up 18.4% | rising |
| 49 | Uruguay | 1,901 | 2025 | up 6.4% | rising |
| 50 | Croatia | 1,789 | 2025 | down 3.4% | flat |
| 51 | Georgia | 1,596 | 2025 | up 4.7% | rising |
| 52 | Lithuania | 1,571 | 2025 | up 6.9% | rising |
| 53 | Mongolia | 1,437 | 2025 | up 5.5% | rising |
| 54 | Armenia | 1,359 | 2024 | up 5.0% | flat |
| 55 | Botswana | 1,056 | 2024 | up 9.6% | rising |
| 56 | Slovenia | 1,037 | 2025 | up 2.9% | flat |
| 57 | Latvia | 955.45 | 2025 | down 3.9% | falling |
| 58 | Republic of Moldova | 799.09 | 2025 | down 10.8% | flat |
| 59 | Estonia | 754.94 | 2025 | up 11.7% | rising |
| 60 | Trinidad and Tobago | 589.05 | 2024 | down 9.8% | falling |
| 61 | Cyprus | 527.62 | 2025 | up 25.2% | rising |
| 62 | Kosovo | 460.66 | 2024 | down 3.7% | flat |
| 63 | Macau, China | 405.23 | 2020 | up 2.6% | flat |
| 64 | Luxembourg | 351.07 | 2025 | up 26.1% | rising |
| 65 | Malta | 340.03 | 2025 | up 62.6% | rising |
| 66 | Iceland | 237.78 | 2025 | up 24.3% | rising |
| 67 | Belize | 182.21 | 2025 | up 17.2% | rising |
| 68 | Barbados | 134.65 | 2024 | down 5.3% | falling |
| 69 | New Caledonia | 125.72 | 2023 | down 4.2% | flat |
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 includes only countries for which the 19th ICLS definitions are applied. The labour force is the sum of all persons of working age who are employed and those who are unemployed. For more information, refer to the Work Statistics -- 19th ICLS (WORK) database description.