Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) in Norway
Norway: Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) was 89.0% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) in Norway, 1960–2025
Source: Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO).
Analysis
Norway recorded 89.0% for ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 1.3% on the previous year and down 3.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) in Norway peaked at 94.6% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 28.8%, in 1960.
That places Norway 32nd out of 196 countries with data for 2025, putting it 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 Norway, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 28.8% | — |
| 1970 | 37.0% | +28.2% |
| 1980 | 69.4% | +87.8% |
| 1981 | 71.0% | +2.3% |
| 1982 | 71.1% | +0.0% |
| 1983 | 73.4% | +3.3% |
| 1984 | 74.1% | +1.0% |
| 1985 | 76.3% | +2.9% |
| 1986 | 79.5% | +4.2% |
| 1987 | 81.2% | +2.1% |
| 1988 | 81.1% | -0.1% |
| 1989 | 80.7% | -0.5% |
| 1990 | 81.5% | +1.0% |
| 1991 | 83.6% | +2.5% |
| 1992 | 83.5% | -0.0% |
| 1993 | 84.2% | +0.8% |
| 1994 | 84.4% | +0.2% |
| 1995 | 86.9% | +2.9% |
| 1996 | 87.0% | +0.1% |
| 1997 | 87.2% | +0.3% |
| 1998 | 88.1% | +1.0% |
| 1999 | 89.0% | +1.1% |
| 2000 | 88.4% | -0.8% |
| 2001 | 88.9% | +0.6% |
| 2002 | 90.7% | +2.0% |
| 2003 | 90.4% | -0.3% |
| 2004 | 90.9% | +0.6% |
| 2005 | 90.4% | -0.6% |
| 2006 | 90.5% | +0.2% |
| 2007 | 91.5% | +1.1% |
| 2008 | 91.9% | +0.4% |
| 2009 | 92.3% | +0.4% |
| 2010 | 91.6% | -0.7% |
| 2011 | 92.9% | +1.4% |
| 2012 | 92.1% | -0.8% |
| 2013 | 92.7% | +0.6% |
| 2014 | 92.8% | +0.1% |
| 2015 | 92.5% | -0.3% |
| 2016 | 92.3% | -0.1% |
| 2017 | 92.7% | +0.4% |
| 2018 | 92.1% | -0.6% |
| 2019 | 92.7% | +0.6% |
| 2020 | 94.6% | +2.0% |
| 2021 | 84.9% | -10.2% |
| 2022 | 89.7% | +5.7% |
| 2023 | 89.8% | +0.0% |
| 2024 | 90.2% | +0.4% |
| 2025 | 89.0% | -1.3% |
Norway compared with similar countries
- Norway's 89.0% is above the median for high income countries, which is 85.1%, 1.0× the median. (79 countries reporting)
- Norway's 89.0% 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 Norway 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | +87.8% | 37.0% | 69.4% |
| 1970 | +28.2% | 28.8% | 37.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 28.8% | 28.8% | 28.8% | 1 |
| 1970s | 37.0% | 37.0% | 37.0% | 1 |
| 1980s | 75.8% | 69.4% | 81.2% | 10 |
| 1990s | 85.5% | 81.5% | 89.0% | 10 |
| 2000s | 90.6% | 88.4% | 92.3% | 10 |
| 2010s | 92.4% | 91.6% | 92.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 89.7% | 84.9% | 94.6% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Norway
- 29 Antigua and Barbuda 89.8% compare
- 30 Australia 89.2% compare
- 31 New Zealand 89.2% compare
- 33 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 89.0% compare
- 34 Azerbaijan 88.9% compare
- 35 Luxembourg 88.9% compare
More work & labour data for Norway
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes, annual -0.2322 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male, annual growth -0.2413 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female, annual growth -0.2229 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population, annual growth rate -1.14 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population, annual growth rate 0.7506 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population 6,138 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population 663.52 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female 2,690 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male 2,724 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes 5,414 1000 No (2100)
Frequently asked questions
- What is ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) in Norway?
- Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) in Norway was 89.0% 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 Norway?
- The highest recorded value was 94.6% in 2020.
- What is the lowest ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) recorded in Norway?
- The lowest recorded value was 28.8% in 1960.
- How does Norway rank for ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%)?
- Norway ranks 32nd out of 196 countries with data for 2025.
- Is ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) rising or falling in Norway?
- Over the last ten years it is down 3.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Norway 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.