Labour income distribution (ILO modelled estimates) in Sub-Saharan Africa: Low income
Sub-Saharan Africa: Low income: Labour income distribution (ILO modelled estimates) was 0.135 in 2025. ▲ Rising
Labour income distribution (ILO modelled estimates) in Sub-Saharan Africa: Low income, 2004–2025
Source: International Labour Organization.
Analysis
The most recent figure for labour income distribution (ilo modelled estimates) in Sub-Saharan Africa: Low income is 0.135, measured in 2025.
That represents a change of up 1.5% on the previous year and up 15.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, labour income distribution (ilo modelled estimates) in Sub-Saharan Africa: Low income peaked at 0.15 in 2021 and was at its lowest, 0.068, in 2004.
That places Sub-Saharan Africa: Low income 81st out of 87 groups with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 22 years of available data.
Labour income distribution (ILO modelled estimates) in Sub-Saharan Africa: Low income, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 0.068 | — |
| 2005 | 0.069 | +1.5% |
| 2006 | 0.073 | +5.8% |
| 2007 | 0.077 | +5.5% |
| 2008 | 0.081 | +5.2% |
| 2009 | 0.088 | +8.6% |
| 2010 | 0.093 | +5.7% |
| 2011 | 0.098 | +5.4% |
| 2012 | 0.104 | +6.1% |
| 2013 | 0.11 | +5.8% |
| 2014 | 0.113 | +2.7% |
| 2015 | 0.117 | +3.5% |
| 2016 | 0.119 | +1.7% |
| 2017 | 0.118 | -0.8% |
| 2018 | 0.118 | +0.0% |
| 2019 | 0.117 | -0.8% |
| 2020 | 0.107 | -8.5% |
| 2021 | 0.15 | +40.2% |
| 2022 | 0.124 | -17.3% |
| 2023 | 0.129 | +4.0% |
| 2024 | 0.133 | +3.1% |
| 2025 | 0.135 | +1.5% |
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Labour income distribution (ILO modelled estimates) in Sub-Saharan Africa: Low income changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | +40.2% | 0.107 | 0.15 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 0.076 | 0.068 | 0.088 | 6 |
| 2010s | 0.1107 | 0.093 | 0.119 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.1297 | 0.107 | 0.15 | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa: Low income
- 79 Macau, China 1.31 compare
- 80 Brazil 1.29 compare
- 81 Chile 1.28 compare
- 82 Brunei Darussalam 1.27 compare
- 83 Hong Kong, China 1.24 compare
- 84 Chinese Taipei 1.23 compare
More work & labour data for Sub-Saharan Africa: Low income
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 249,290 (2027)
- Labour force participation rate (ILO modelled estimates) 69.01 (2027)
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 111,936 (2027)
- Unemployment rate (ILO modelled estimates) 4.1 (2027)
- Labour dependency ratio 1.59 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2021 international $ at PPP 6,313 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2015 US $ 2,089 (2027)
- Employment-to-population ratio (ILO modelled estimates) 66.18 (2027)
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+) 3.31 % change on previous year (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+), annual growth rate 3.2 % change on previous year (2027)
Frequently asked questions
- What is labour income distribution (ilo modelled estimates) in Sub-Saharan Africa: Low income?
- Labour income distribution (ilo modelled estimates) in Sub-Saharan Africa: Low income was 0.135 in 2025, according to International Labour Organization.
- What is the highest labour income distribution (ilo modelled estimates) recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa: Low income?
- The highest recorded value was 0.15 in 2021.
- What is the lowest labour income distribution (ilo modelled estimates) recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa: Low income?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.068 in 2004.
- How does Sub-Saharan Africa: Low income rank for labour income distribution (ilo modelled estimates)?
- Sub-Saharan Africa: Low income ranks 81st out of 87 groups with data for 2025.
- Is labour income distribution (ilo modelled estimates) rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa: Low income?
- Over the last ten years it is up 15.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa: Low income data come from?
- The figures come from International Labour Organization, published as part of Labour income distribution (ILO modelled estimates) (Decile 1). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 22 observations, free to reuse under ILO Terms of Use (attribution required).
About this data
Imputed observations are not based on national data, are subject to high uncertainty and should not be used for country comparisons or rankings. This indicator shows in percentage the share of total labour income that accrues to each decile. Labour income includes the compensation of employees and part of the income of the self-employed. Self-employed workers earn from both their work and capital ownership. Total compensation of employees refers to the remuneration, in cash or in kind, payable by an enterprise to an employee in return for work done by the latter during the accounting period. The labour income of self-employed is imputed on the basis of a statistical analysis of employees of similar characteristics. For more information, refer to the ILO Modelled Estimates (ILOEST) database description.