Labour force (previous ILO definition - ICLS13) 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 is based on the 13th ICLS definitions. For time series comparability, it includes countries that have...
What the numbers show
Labour force (previous ILO definition - ICLS13) is currently reported for 57 countries. The highest value is 170,807 in United States; the lowest is 174.38 in Iceland.
The median across all reporting countries is 4,876, and the mean is 14,550.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 979.
Over the past decade 40 countries rose and 16 fell. The largest increase was in Ghana (up 327.6%), and the largest decrease in Poland (down 23.7%).
Labour force: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 170,807 | 2025 | up 8.7% | rising |
| 2 | Indonesia | 144,006 | 2023 | up 34.2% | rising |
| 3 | Ghana | 52,615 | 2024 | up 327.6% | volatile |
| 4 | Germany | 38,383 | 2022 | down 5.0% | flat |
| 5 | United Kingdom | 35,877 | 2025 | up 8.7% | rising |
| 6 | Thailand | 34,816 | 2019 | down 7.0% | flat |
| 7 | Tanzania | 31,808 | 2024 | up 47.1% | rising |
| 8 | France | 31,040 | 2025 | up 4.2% | rising |
| 9 | Italy | 27,044 | 2025 | up 0.3% | rising |
| 10 | Colombia | 26,020 | 2025 | up 12.8% | rising |
| 11 | Spain | 25,187 | 2025 | up 6.7% | rising |
| 12 | Peru | 18,641 | 2025 | up 6.5% | rising |
| 13 | Poland | 13,327 | 2025 | down 23.7% | falling |
| 14 | Côte d’Ivoire | 11,860 | 2022 | up 22.8% | rising |
| 15 | Chile | 9,994 | 2022 | up 34.0% | rising |
| 16 | Cambodia | 9,781 | 2023 | up 17.7% | rising |
| 17 | Netherlands | 8,745 | 2025 | up 9.8% | rising |
| 18 | Sri Lanka | 8,308 | 2024 | down 0.8% | flat |
| 19 | Burkina Faso | 8,187 | 2025 | down 1.0% | rising |
| 20 | Romania | 7,881 | 2025 | down 12.6% | falling |
| 21 | Zambia | 7,586 | 2024 | up 49.7% | rising |
| 22 | Rwanda | 6,780 | 2025 | up 22.1% | rising |
| 23 | Bolivia | 6,284 | 2024 | up 21.1% | rising |
| 24 | Zimbabwe | 5,671 | 2024 | down 13.8% | falling |
| 25 | Portugal | 5,604 | 2025 | up 9.0% | flat |
| 26 | Belgium | 5,172 | 2025 | up 5.6% | rising |
| 27 | Czechia | 5,159 | 2025 | up 0.2% | flat |
| 28 | Senegal | 4,954 | 2024 | up 35.1% | rising |
| 29 | Sweden | 4,876 | 2025 | up 1.2% | rising |
| 30 | Hungary | 4,812 | 2025 | up 4.6% | rising |
| 31 | Greece | 4,760 | 2025 | down 0.6% | flat |
| 32 | Switzerland | 4,675 | 2024 | up 7.9% | rising |
| 33 | Israel | 4,460 | 2023 | up 14.0% | rising |
| 34 | Austria | 4,361 | 2025 | up 5.4% | rising |
| 35 | Togo | 3,432 | 2022 | up 25.9% | rising |
| 36 | Bulgaria | 3,321 | 2025 | down 10.1% | falling |
| 37 | Serbia | 3,198 | 2025 | down 5.7% | falling |
| 38 | Denmark | 2,844 | 2025 | up 8.6% | rising |
| 39 | Slovak Republic | 2,750 | 2025 | down 0.3% | flat |
| 40 | Ireland | 2,698 | 2025 | up 28.3% | rising |
| 41 | Norway | 2,664 | 2025 | up 2.9% | rising |
| 42 | Costa Rica | 2,530 | 2025 | up 11.7% | rising |
| 43 | Finland | 2,516 | 2025 | up 0.9% | flat |
| 44 | Croatia | 1,810 | 2025 | down 7.7% | falling |
| 45 | Lithuania | 1,546 | 2025 | up 6.1% | falling |
| 46 | Palestine, State of | 1,503 | 2022 | — | rising |
| 47 | Mongolia | 1,446 | 2025 | up 19.5% | rising |
| 48 | Moldova | 1,428 | 2025 | down 4.1% | flat |
| 49 | Armenia | 1,331 | 2023 | down 1.7% | flat |
| 50 | Botswana | 1,141 | 2024 | up 53.7% | rising |
| 51 | Slovenia | 1,008 | 2025 | up 4.7% | rising |
| 52 | Latvia | 839.75 | 2025 | down 13.1% | falling |
| 53 | Estonia | 621.93 | 2025 | down 6.0% | falling |
| 54 | Cyprus | 519.58 | 2025 | up 18.3% | rising |
| 55 | Luxembourg | 335.74 | 2025 | up 34.4% | rising |
| 56 | Seychelles | 206.91 | 2025 | up 314.0% | volatile |
| 57 | Iceland | 174.38 | 2020 | up 16.6% | rising |
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 is based on the 13th ICLS definitions. For time series comparability, it includes countries that have implemented the 19th ICLS standards, for which data are also available in the Work Statistics -- 19th ICLS (WORK) database. The labour force is the sum of all persons of working age who are employed and those who are unemployed. The term disability, as defined in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), is used as an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. For measurement purposes, a person with disability is defined as a person who is limited in the kind or amount of activities that he or she can do because of ongoing difficulties due to a long-term physical condition, mental condition or health problem. For more information, refer to the Disability Labour Market Indicators (DLMI) database description.