Potential 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 potential labour force...
What the numbers show
Potential labour force (current ILO definition - ICLS19) (15+) is currently reported for 61 countries. The highest value is 5,454 in Brazil; the lowest is 1.1 in Barbados.
The median across all reporting countries is 108.05, and the mean is 471.58.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 4,944.
Over the past decade 18 countries rose and 38 fell. The largest increase was in Switzerland (up 418.8%), and the largest decrease in United Arab Emirates (down 89.1%).
Potential labour force (current ILO definition - ICLS19): full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brazil | 5,454 | 2025 | up 18.4% | rising |
| 2 | Angola | 3,642 | 2025 | up 60.4% | rising |
| 3 | Zambia | 2,127 | 2024 | up 35.2% | rising |
| 4 | Italy | 2,057 | 2024 | down 39.2% | falling |
| 5 | United States | 1,732 | 2025 | down 7.4% | falling |
| 6 | Rwanda | 1,506 | 2025 | up 4.3% | flat |
| 7 | Germany | 1,181 | 2024 | up 33.0% | rising |
| 8 | Zimbabwe | 1,171 | 2024 | down 32.7% | falling |
| 9 | France | 1,167 | 2024 | up 18.5% | rising |
| 10 | Chile | 955.4 | 2025 | up 19.1% | rising |
| 11 | South Korea | 955.02 | 2025 | down 43.9% | falling |
| 12 | United Kingdom | 949.25 | 2025 | down 5.6% | falling |
| 13 | Spain | 870.28 | 2025 | down 18.7% | falling |
| 14 | Russia | 838.43 | 2025 | down 46.1% | falling |
| 15 | Sweden | 355.93 | 2024 | up 79.5% | rising |
| 16 | Netherlands | 266.78 | 2024 | down 46.3% | falling |
| 17 | Georgia | 218.45 | 2025 | down 27.9% | falling |
| 18 | Switzerland | 217.71 | 2025 | up 418.8% | volatile |
| 19 | Romania | 217.12 | 2024 | down 42.8% | falling |
| 20 | Canada | 160.31 | 2025 | up 25.3% | rising |
| 21 | Finland | 148.78 | 2024 | down 15.6% | falling |
| 22 | Kosovo | 143.74 | 2024 | down 3.6% | falling |
| 23 | Jordan | 142.33 | 2024 | down 31.7% | falling |
| 24 | Vietnam | 137.01 | 2024 | — | volatile |
| 25 | Ireland | 136.6 | 2024 | up 276.3% | rising |
| 26 | Austria | 134.15 | 2025 | down 32.5% | falling |
| 27 | Australia | 133.89 | 2021 | up 16.1% | rising |
| 28 | Portugal | 126.82 | 2025 | down 53.9% | falling |
| 29 | Armenia | 121.62 | 2024 | down 45.7% | falling |
| 30 | Serbia | 118.33 | 2025 | — | falling |
| 31 | New Zealand | 108.05 | 2025 | down 12.4% | falling |
| 32 | Greece | 105.91 | 2025 | down 26.8% | falling |
| 33 | Norway | 100.92 | 2024 | up 51.7% | rising |
| 34 | Denmark | 96.77 | 2024 | up 19.3% | falling |
| 35 | Belgium | 96.52 | 2024 | down 22.3% | falling |
| 36 | Israel | 68.32 | 2024 | down 31.7% | falling |
| 37 | Hungary | 65.52 | 2024 | down 64.0% | falling |
| 38 | Costa Rica | 63.72 | 2025 | down 77.4% | falling |
| 39 | Bulgaria | 58.31 | 2024 | down 77.3% | falling |
| 40 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 52.07 | 2025 | — | falling |
| 41 | Singapore | 50.76 | 2025 | — | falling |
| 42 | Uruguay | 50.56 | 2025 | down 36.7% | falling |
| 43 | Guyana | 46.22 | 2024 | down 1.9% | rising |
| 44 | Moldova | 45.93 | 2025 | up 255.2% | volatile |
| 45 | Croatia | 38.69 | 2024 | down 77.9% | falling |
| 46 | El Salvador | 34.59 | 2025 | down 29.5% | falling |
| 47 | Estonia | 32.6 | 2024 | down 5.2% | falling |
| 48 | Czechia | 32.09 | 2024 | down 53.4% | falling |
| 49 | Mongolia | 31.57 | 2025 | down 49.1% | falling |
| 50 | Lithuania | 30.98 | 2024 | up 67.9% | rising |
| 51 | Slovakia | 30.68 | 2023 | down 54.7% | falling |
| 52 | Poland | 25.86 | 2025 | — | falling |
| 53 | Latvia | 24.33 | 2024 | down 54.7% | falling |
| 54 | Panama | 20.94 | 2025 | up 93.5% | rising |
| 55 | Luxembourg | 19.72 | 2024 | up 17.9% | flat |
| 56 | Slovenia | 15.66 | 2024 | down 57.4% | falling |
| 57 | United Arab Emirates | 15.5 | 2024 | down 89.1% | falling |
| 58 | Iceland | 7.73 | 2023 | down 11.3% | falling |
| 59 | Cyprus | 6.82 | 2024 | down 66.3% | falling |
| 60 | Malta | 2.42 | 2024 | down 14.9% | flat |
| 61 | Barbados | 1.1 | 2024 | down 53.5% | falling |
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 potential labour force refers to persons not in employment who express an interest in this form of work but for whom existing conditions limit their active job search and/or their availability. This group is used to calculate alternative measures of labour underutilization. For more information, refer to the Work Statistics -- 19th ICLS (WORK) database description.