Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) in Netherlands
Netherlands: Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) was 88.2% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) in Netherlands, 1960–2025
Source: Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO).
Analysis
Netherlands recorded 88.2% for ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) in 2025. That is the highest value across all 48 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.3% on the previous year and up 5.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) in Netherlands peaked at 88.2% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 27.4%, in 1960.
Netherlands ranks 43rd of 196 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 48 years of available data.
Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) in Netherlands, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 27.4% | — |
| 1977 | 39.2% | +43.2% |
| 1979 | 42.2% | +7.6% |
| 1980 | 42.3% | +0.2% |
| 1981 | 44.6% | +5.5% |
| 1982 | 48.5% | +8.6% |
| 1983 | 49.6% | +2.4% |
| 1985 | 51.8% | +4.4% |
| 1986 | 53.2% | +2.7% |
| 1987 | 58.4% | +9.7% |
| 1988 | 59.6% | +2.1% |
| 1989 | 60.2% | +0.9% |
| 1990 | 62.0% | +3.0% |
| 1991 | 63.1% | +1.8% |
| 1992 | 65.5% | +3.9% |
| 1993 | 66.4% | +1.3% |
| 1994 | 67.7% | +2.0% |
| 1995 | 68.6% | +1.3% |
| 1996 | 70.0% | +2.0% |
| 1997 | 70.8% | +1.1% |
| 1998 | 71.3% | +0.7% |
| 1999 | 73.5% | +3.1% |
| 2000 | 74.0% | +0.7% |
| 2001 | 75.0% | +1.3% |
| 2002 | 75.4% | +0.6% |
| 2003 | 77.1% | +2.3% |
| 2004 | 77.9% | +1.0% |
| 2005 | 77.8% | -0.1% |
| 2006 | 78.9% | +1.3% |
| 2007 | 79.8% | +1.2% |
| 2008 | 80.5% | +0.8% |
| 2009 | 81.4% | +1.2% |
| 2010 | 82.5% | +1.4% |
| 2011 | 83.4% | +1.0% |
| 2012 | 83.7% | +0.4% |
| 2013 | 83.6% | -0.1% |
| 2014 | 83.0% | -0.8% |
| 2015 | 83.8% | +1.0% |
| 2016 | 84.4% | +0.7% |
| 2017 | 84.7% | +0.3% |
| 2018 | 85.0% | +0.4% |
| 2019 | 85.6% | +0.7% |
| 2020 | 86.4% | +0.9% |
| 2021 | 88.2% | +2.0% |
| 2022 | 87.9% | -0.3% |
| 2023 | 87.6% | -0.3% |
| 2024 | 88.0% | +0.4% |
| 2025 | 88.2% | +0.3% |
Netherlands compared with similar countries
- Netherlands's 88.2% is above the median for high income countries, which is 85.1%, 1.0× the median. (79 countries reporting)
- Netherlands's 88.2% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 85.0%, 1.0× the median. (54 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) in Netherlands 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | +43.2% | 27.4% | 39.2% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 27.4% | 27.4% | 27.4% | 1 |
| 1970s | 40.7% | 39.2% | 42.2% | 2 |
| 1980s | 52.0% | 42.3% | 60.2% | 9 |
| 1990s | 67.9% | 62.0% | 73.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 77.8% | 74.0% | 81.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 84.0% | 82.5% | 85.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 87.7% | 86.4% | 88.2% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Netherlands
More work & labour data for Netherlands
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 5,256 (2027)
- Labour force participation rate (ILO modelled estimates) 66.71 (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 10,535 (2027)
- Unemployment rate (ILO modelled estimates) 4.03 (2027)
- Labour dependency ratio 0.834 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2021 international $ at PPP 130,584 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2015 US $ 94,797 (2027)
- Employment-to-population ratio (ILO modelled estimates) 64.03 (2027)
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+) 1.4 % change on previous year (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+), annual growth rate 0.1112 % change on previous year (2027)
Frequently asked questions
- What is ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) in Netherlands?
- Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) in Netherlands was 88.2% in 2025, according to Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO).
- What is the highest ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) recorded in Netherlands?
- The highest recorded value was 88.2% in 2025.
- What is the lowest ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) recorded in Netherlands?
- The lowest recorded value was 27.4% in 1960.
- How does Netherlands rank for ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%)?
- Netherlands ranks 43rd out of 196 countries with data for 2025.
- Is ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) rising or falling in Netherlands?
- Over the last ten years it is up 5.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Netherlands data come from?
- The figures come from Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO), published as part of Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) (national estimate). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 48 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate is the proportion of female labor force participation relative to male labor force participation. The labor force participation rate is the labor force as a percent of the population ages 15 and older. The labor force is the sum of all persons of working age who are employed and those who are unemployed.