Wage and salaried workers, female (% of female employment) in Zambia
Zambia: Wage and salaried workers, female (% of female employment) was 19.9% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Wage and salaried workers, female (% of female employment) in Zambia, 1991–2025
Source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
Analysis
Zambia recorded 19.9% for wage and salaried workers, female (% of female employment) in 2025. That is the highest value across all 35 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.5% on the previous year and up 38.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, wage and salaried workers, female (% of female employment) in Zambia peaked at 19.9% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 5.8%, in 2005.
That places Zambia 157th out of 187 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 35 years of available data.
Wage and salaried workers, female (% of female employment) in Zambia, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 6.6% | — |
| 1992 | 6.6% | +1.1% |
| 1993 | 6.7% | +0.7% |
| 1994 | 6.7% | +0.3% |
| 1995 | 6.7% | -0.5% |
| 1996 | 6.7% | +0.1% |
| 1997 | 6.7% | +0.3% |
| 1998 | 6.6% | -0.6% |
| 1999 | 6.6% | -0.7% |
| 2000 | 6.6% | -0.1% |
| 2001 | 6.4% | -2.9% |
| 2002 | 6.2% | -2.3% |
| 2003 | 6.1% | -2.4% |
| 2004 | 6.0% | -2.1% |
| 2005 | 5.8% | -2.7% |
| 2006 | 5.9% | +1.8% |
| 2007 | 6.0% | +1.7% |
| 2008 | 6.1% | +1.7% |
| 2009 | 6.9% | +13.3% |
| 2010 | 7.8% | +12.7% |
| 2011 | 7.7% | -1.6% |
| 2012 | 7.6% | -1.2% |
| 2013 | 9.7% | +28.1% |
| 2014 | 12.0% | +23.0% |
| 2015 | 14.3% | +19.8% |
| 2016 | 14.6% | +2.3% |
| 2017 | 14.9% | +1.9% |
| 2018 | 15.3% | +2.3% |
| 2019 | 16.6% | +8.8% |
| 2020 | 16.4% | -1.5% |
| 2021 | 17.3% | +6.0% |
| 2022 | 17.4% | +0.2% |
| 2023 | 19.3% | +11.4% |
| 2024 | 19.6% | +1.3% |
| 2025 | 19.9% | +1.5% |
Zambia compared with similar countries
- Zambia's 19.9% is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 27.4%, 73% of the median. (46 countries reporting)
- Zambia's 19.9% is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 19.1%, 1.0× the median. (47 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Wage and salaried workers, female (% of female employment) in Zambia 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | +28.1% | 7.6% | 9.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 6.6% | 6.6% | 6.7% | 9 |
| 2000s | 6.2% | 5.8% | 6.9% | 10 |
| 2010s | 12.0% | 7.6% | 16.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 18.3% | 16.4% | 19.9% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Zambia
- 154 India 21.2% compare
- 155 Solomon Islands 20.4% compare
- 156 Timor-Leste 20.2% compare
- 158 Côte d'Ivoire 19.1% compare
- 159 Mali 18.4% compare
- 160 Lao People's Democratic Republic 18.2% compare
More work & labour data for Zambia
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes, annual 0.5254 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male, annual growth 0.5224 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female, annual growth 0.5281 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population, annual growth rate 0.7611 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population, annual growth rate 3.24 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population 25,577 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population 15,424 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female 32,895 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male 31,579 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes 64,474 1000 No (2100)
Frequently asked questions
- What is wage and salaried workers, female (% of female employment) in Zambia?
- Wage and salaried workers, female (% of female employment) in Zambia was 19.9% in 2025, according to ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
- What is the highest wage and salaried workers, female (% of female employment) recorded in Zambia?
- The highest recorded value was 19.9% in 2025.
- What is the lowest wage and salaried workers, female (% of female employment) recorded in Zambia?
- The lowest recorded value was 5.8% in 2005.
- How does Zambia rank for wage and salaried workers, female (% of female employment)?
- Zambia ranks 157th out of 187 countries with data for 2025.
- Is wage and salaried workers, female (% of female employment) rising or falling in Zambia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 38.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Zambia data come from?
- The figures come from ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO), published as part of Wage and salaried workers, female (% of female employment) (modeled ILO estimate). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 35 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Wage and salaried workers (employees) are those workers who hold the type of jobs defined as "paid employment jobs," where the incumbents hold explicit (written or oral) or implicit employment contracts that give them a basic remuneration that is not directly dependent upon the revenue of the unit for which they work.