Potential labour force and willing non-jobseekers rate (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
Potential labour force and willing non-jobseekers rate (previous ILO definition - ICLS13) is currently reported for 70 countries. The highest value is 38.9 in Senegal; the lowest is 0.3 in Viet Nam.
The median across all reporting countries is 4.15, and the mean is 6.42.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 130.
Over the past decade 16 countries rose and 48 fell. The largest increase was in Rwanda (up 650.0%), and the largest decrease in Albania (down 82.8%).
Potential labour force and willing non-jobseekers rate: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Senegal | 38.9 | 2024 | up 9.0% | rising |
| 2 | Kosovo | 26.9 | 2024 | down 26.1% | falling |
| 3 | Guatemala | 20.8 | 2024 | up 201.4% | rising |
| 4 | Angola | 18.6 | 2025 | up 17.7% | rising |
| 5 | South Africa | 14.2 | 2024 | up 3.6% | rising |
| 6 | Chile | 13.9 | 2025 | down 38.2% | falling |
| 7 | Armenia | 13.4 | 2017 | up 36.7% | rising |
| 8 | Georgia | 11.8 | 2025 | up 45.7% | rising |
| 8 | Zimbabwe | 11.8 | 2024 | down 26.7% | falling |
| 10 | Guyana | 11.3 | 2024 | down 36.5% | falling |
| 11 | Rwanda | 10.5 | 2025 | up 650.0% | rising |
| 12 | Netherlands | 9.7 | 2024 | up 32.9% | rising |
| 13 | Kyrgyzstan | 9.6 | 2023 | down 48.4% | falling |
| 14 | Italy | 9.4 | 2024 | down 34.3% | flat |
| 15 | Switzerland | 8.9 | 2025 | — | volatile |
| 16 | Luxembourg | 8.2 | 2024 | down 13.7% | volatile |
| 17 | Ireland | 7.5 | 2024 | up 59.6% | rising |
| 18 | Brazil | 7.4 | 2025 | up 12.1% | rising |
| 18 | Honduras | 7.4 | 2025 | down 72.3% | falling |
| 20 | North Macedonia | 7 | 2025 | unchanged | flat |
| 20 | Sweden | 7 | 2024 | up 52.2% | rising |
| 22 | Austria | 6.9 | 2025 | down 28.9% | rising |
| 23 | Norway | 6.8 | 2024 | up 44.7% | rising |
| 24 | Finland | 6.7 | 2024 | down 11.8% | falling |
| 25 | Estonia | 6.6 | 2024 | down 5.7% | falling |
| 26 | Germany | 6.1 | 2024 | up 35.6% | rising |
| 27 | Colombia | 6 | 2025 | down 46.4% | falling |
| 28 | Denmark | 5.7 | 2024 | down 18.6% | rising |
| 28 | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 5.7 | 2025 | down 17.4% | falling |
| 30 | France | 5.6 | 2024 | up 19.1% | rising |
| 31 | Mongolia | 5.4 | 2025 | down 21.7% | falling |
| 32 | Spain | 5.3 | 2025 | down 11.7% | rising |
| 33 | Iceland | 5 | 2023 | down 23.1% | rising |
| 34 | Latvia | 4.7 | 2024 | down 44.0% | falling |
| 35 | Uruguay | 4.2 | 2025 | — | falling |
| 36 | Belarus | 4.1 | 2024 | down 35.9% | falling |
| 36 | Russian Federation | 4.1 | 2025 | down 18.0% | falling |
| 38 | Jordan | 4 | 2024 | down 48.7% | falling |
| 38 | Serbia | 4 | 2025 | down 71.4% | falling |
| 40 | El Salvador | 3.9 | 2025 | down 9.3% | flat |
| 41 | Belgium | 3.8 | 2024 | down 22.4% | rising |
| 42 | Croatia | 3.6 | 2024 | — | falling |
| 43 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 3.5 | 2025 | down 77.1% | falling |
| 43 | Greece | 3.5 | 2025 | down 14.6% | rising |
| 45 | Albania | 3.4 | 2024 | down 82.8% | falling |
| 46 | Bulgaria | 3.2 | 2024 | down 57.9% | falling |
| 46 | Mali | 3.2 | 2024 | down 11.1% | volatile |
| 46 | Poland | 3.2 | 2024 | down 64.4% | falling |
| 46 | Portugal | 3.2 | 2024 | down 56.8% | volatile |
| 50 | Brunei Darussalam | 3.1 | 2024 | down 69.3% | falling |
| 51 | Romania | 2.9 | 2024 | down 58.0% | falling |
| 52 | Singapore | 2.8 | 2025 | — | falling |
| 52 | Seychelles | 2.8 | 2025 | down 6.7% | flat |
| 54 | Philippines | 2.7 | 2023 | down 37.2% | flat |
| 54 | Palestine, State of | 2.7 | 2025 | down 75.7% | falling |
| 56 | Cyprus | 2.6 | 2024 | down 57.4% | falling |
| 56 | Lithuania | 2.6 | 2024 | up 4.0% | falling |
| 58 | Canada | 2.5 | 2025 | down 7.4% | falling |
| 59 | Hungary | 2.2 | 2024 | down 68.6% | falling |
| 59 | Slovakia | 2.2 | 2023 | down 42.1% | flat |
| 59 | Slovenia | 2.2 | 2024 | down 72.2% | falling |
| 62 | Saint Lucia | 2.1 | 2025 | down 67.7% | falling |
| 63 | Czechia | 2 | 2024 | down 25.9% | falling |
| 64 | Mauritius | 1.7 | 2024 | down 22.7% | volatile |
| 65 | Malta | 1.6 | 2024 | down 80.7% | falling |
| 66 | United States of America | 1.4 | 2025 | down 12.5% | falling |
| 67 | Republic of Moldova | 1.3 | 2025 | up 160.0% | volatile |
| 67 | Myanmar | 1.3 | 2020 | down 31.6% | falling |
| 69 | Barbados | 1 | 2024 | down 41.2% | falling |
| 70 | Viet Nam | 0.3 | 2024 | — | volatile |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- Arab States: Low income 18.1
- CARICOM 15.4
- Southern Africa 15.4
- Sub-Saharan Africa: Upper-middle income 14.9
- Americas: Lower-middle income 14
- Latin America and the Caribbean: Lower-middle income 14
- Africa: Upper-middle income 13.8
- Caribbean 11.5
- Northern Africa: Upper-middle income 11.5
- Central Africa 10.8
- Southern Asia: Upper-middle income 10.4
- Arab League 10.3
- Latin America and the Caribbean: High income 10.2
- MENA 10.1
- Asia and the Pacific: Low income 10.1
- Northern Africa 10
- Arab States 10
- World: Low income 9.8
- Northern Africa: Lower-middle income 9.6
- Africa 9.4
- Eastern Africa 9.4
- Sub-Saharan Africa 9.3
- Africa: Low income 9.2
- Sub-Saharan Africa: Low income 9.2
- Africa: Lower-middle income 8.9
- Sub-Saharan Africa: Lower-middle income 8.7
- Latin America and the Caribbean 8
- South America 7.8
- Central America 7.8
- Western Africa 7.6
- Americas: Upper-middle income 7.4
- Latin America and the Caribbean: Upper-middle income 7.4
- World: Upper-middle income excluding China 7.2
- Western Asia 7
- Arab States: High income 6.8
- Eastern Europe: Upper-middle income 6.7
- Central and Western Asia: Upper-middle income 6.7
- Western Europe 6.6
- Southern Europe 6.5
- Europe and Central Asia: Upper-middle income 6.5
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 potential labour force and willing non-jobseekers includes those who have been recently searching for a job but are not available to work within a short reference period, those who have not searched recently for a job, but they are available to work within a short reference period, and finally those who do not fall in neither of the previous categories but that wanted employment. The rate refers to this group divided by the sum of the extended labour force and willing non-jobseekers. For more information, refer to the Labour Force Statistics (LFS and STLFS) database description.