Share of persons outside the labour force due to care responsibilities 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
Share of persons outside the labour force due to care responsibilities is currently reported for 44 countries. The highest value is 67.17 in Thailand; the lowest is 1.12 in Canada.
The median across all reporting countries is 27.23, and the mean is 26.95.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 60.
Over the past decade 12 countries rose and 29 fell. The largest increase was in Armenia (up 137.7%), and the largest decrease in Switzerland (down 72.7%).
Share of persons outside the labour force due to care responsibilities: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thailand | 67.17 | 2019 | up 13.5% | rising |
| 2 | Iran, Islamic Republic of | 59.41 | 2024 | up 3.4% | rising |
| 3 | Mexico | 54.68 | 2026 | down 4.5% | rising |
| 4 | Honduras | 52.52 | 2025 | up 8.9% | falling |
| 5 | Egypt | 50.08 | 2024 | up 7.4% | rising |
| 6 | Palestine, State of | 49.35 | 2025 | up 16.9% | rising |
| 7 | Guatemala | 47.77 | 2023 | down 14.2% | rising |
| 8 | Myanmar | 47.62 | 2020 | down 6.8% | falling |
| 9 | El Salvador | 46.09 | 2025 | down 13.2% | falling |
| 10 | Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of | 45.85 | 2017 | up 11.5% | rising |
| 11 | Jordan | 44.21 | 2024 | up 13.5% | rising |
| 12 | Sri Lanka | 43.09 | 2024 | down 8.4% | falling |
| 13 | Türkiye | 40.67 | 2020 | down 17.2% | falling |
| 14 | India | 40.67 | 2025 | — | flat |
| 15 | Republic of Korea | 39.68 | 2025 | down 5.6% | falling |
| 16 | Zimbabwe | 32.18 | 2024 | up 30.4% | rising |
| 17 | Kosovo | 29.31 | 2019 | up 2.2% | rising |
| 18 | Dominican Republic | 29.13 | 2025 | down 18.3% | falling |
| 19 | Botswana | 29 | 2024 | up 6.4% | flat |
| 20 | Costa Rica | 28.08 | 2025 | down 6.0% | flat |
| 21 | Panama | 27.89 | 2025 | — | volatile |
| 22 | Bolivia, Plurinational State of | 27.71 | 2025 | down 23.4% | falling |
| 23 | Armenia | 26.74 | 2023 | up 137.7% | rising |
| 24 | Zambia | 22.66 | 2024 | down 1.6% | falling |
| 25 | Trinidad and Tobago | 22.64 | 2024 | down 32.6% | falling |
| 26 | North Macedonia | 22.62 | 2025 | down 20.9% | falling |
| 27 | Brazil | 22.16 | 2025 | down 14.0% | falling |
| 28 | Chile | 20.02 | 2025 | down 22.9% | rising |
| 29 | Australia | 17.29 | 2021 | down 26.2% | rising |
| 30 | United States of America | 13.4 | 2025 | down 10.9% | falling |
| 31 | South Africa | 11.77 | 2024 | down 29.8% | falling |
| 32 | Ireland | 11.57 | 2024 | down 62.9% | volatile |
| 33 | Nigeria | 11.26 | 2024 | down 45.6% | falling |
| 34 | Albania | 8.23 | 2024 | down 7.6% | falling |
| 35 | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 7.71 | 2025 | down 33.3% | falling |
| 36 | Greece | 7.01 | 2025 | — | volatile |
| 37 | Slovakia | 6.44 | 2023 | down 41.8% | falling |
| 38 | Poland | 5.78 | 2025 | down 51.6% | falling |
| 39 | Russian Federation | 4.69 | 2025 | down 60.4% | falling |
| 40 | Austria | 4.08 | 2025 | down 46.1% | falling |
| 41 | Belarus | 2.69 | 2024 | down 8.3% | falling |
| 42 | Switzerland | 2.34 | 2025 | down 72.7% | falling |
| 43 | Mali | 1.31 | 2024 | up 90.5% | volatile |
| 44 | Canada | 1.12 | 2025 | down 21.7% | 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 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. 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). For more information, refer to the Gender Equality and Non-Discrimination Indicators (GEND) database description.