Population outside the labour force — Persons outside the labour force by country
The infra-annual dataflow on the outside the labour force population is a subset of the infra-annual labour statistics database, which contains predominantly monthly and quarterly statistics on the outside the labour force population by age groups (15+, 15-24, 25-54, 55-64, 15-64 and 15-74 where available) and sex...
What the numbers show
Population outside the labour force — Persons outside the labour force is currently reported for 33 countries. The highest value is 444,834 Persons in OECD; the lowest is 76.65 Persons in Iceland.
The median across all reporting countries is 4,241 Persons, and the mean is 25,721 Persons.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 5,803.
Over the past decade 22 countries rose and 11 fell. The largest increase was in Iceland (up 95.7%), and the largest decrease in Hungary (down 17.8%).
Population outside the labour force — Persons outside the labour force: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | OECD | 444,834 Persons | 2024 | up 5.3% | rising |
| 2 | United States of America | 100,465 Persons | 2024 | up 9.2% | rising |
| 3 | Mexico | 41,805 Persons | 2025 | up 17.6% | rising |
| 4 | Japan | 39,622 Persons | 2025 | down 11.5% | rising |
| 5 | Germany | 27,503 Persons | 2025 | down 1.5% | falling |
| 6 | Italy | 25,790 Persons | 2025 | down 2.9% | flat |
| 7 | France | 23,942 Persons | 2025 | up 3.3% | rising |
| 8 | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 20,378 Persons | 2025 | up 7.1% | rising |
| 9 | Spain | 17,839 Persons | 2025 | up 11.2% | rising |
| 10 | Brazil | 15,986 Persons | 2014 | up 26.3% | rising |
| 11 | Colombia | 14,521 Persons | 2025 | up 40.1% | rising |
| 12 | Canada | 12,002 Persons | 2025 | up 21.6% | rising |
| 13 | Romania | 7,750 Persons | 2025 | up 1.5% | flat |
| 14 | Australia | 7,532 Persons | 2025 | up 11.7% | rising |
| 15 | Chile | 6,269 Persons | 2025 | up 15.6% | rising |
| 16 | Belgium | 4,319 Persons | 2025 | down 0.9% | rising |
| 17 | Greece | 4,241 Persons | 2025 | down 4.5% | flat |
| 18 | Portugal | 3,839 Persons | 2025 | up 4.5% | rising |
| 19 | Czechia | 3,454 Persons | 2025 | down 4.8% | flat |
| 20 | Hungary | 3,070 Persons | 2025 | down 17.8% | falling |
| 21 | Austria | 2,955 Persons | 2025 | up 3.8% | rising |
| 22 | Sweden | 2,812 Persons | 2025 | down 0.8% | flat |
| 23 | Israel | 2,691 Persons | 2025 | up 24.9% | rising |
| 24 | Switzerland | 2,491 Persons | 2025 | up 11.8% | rising |
| 25 | Bulgaria | 2,472 Persons | 2025 | down 12.8% | falling |
| 26 | Costa Rica | 1,910 Persons | 2025 | up 32.6% | rising |
| 27 | Finland | 1,858 Persons | 2025 | down 0.8% | rising |
| 28 | Denmark | 1,768 Persons | 2025 | down 3.0% | rising |
| 29 | Norway | 1,611 Persons | 2025 | up 8.3% | rising |
| 30 | Ireland | 1,513 Persons | 2025 | up 7.3% | rising |
| 31 | New Zealand | 1,270 Persons | 2025 | up 11.8% | rising |
| 32 | Luxembourg | 212.75 Persons | 2025 | up 15.6% | rising |
| 33 | Iceland | 76.65 Persons | 2025 | up 95.7% | 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
The infra-annual dataflow on the outside the labour force population is a subset of the infra-annual labour statistics database, which contains predominantly monthly and quarterly statistics on the outside the labour force population by age groups (15+, 15-24, 25-54, 55-64, 15-64 and 15-74 where available) and sex and associated statistical methodological information and associated statistical methodological information, for the OECD member countries and for selected other economies. The persons outside the labour force comprise all persons of working age who, during the specified reference period, were not in the labour force (that is, were not employed or unemployed). The infra-annual labour statistics compiled for all OECD member countries, are drawn from Labour Force Surveys based on definition provided by the 19th Conference of Labour Statisticians in 2013. The uniform application of these definitions across all OECD member countries results in estimates that are internationally comparable.