Economy · Africa ranking
Labor Force Participation by African country
Madagascar has the highest labor force participation rate of any African country, at 85.5%, ahead of Tanzania and Nigeria.
Share of the population ages 15+ that is economically active (ILO modelled estimate). 53 of 54 countries, ranked · World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2025.
Latest available year varies by country (2022–2025); each row shows its year, and values more than 5 years behind the most recent are marked ⚠.
Madagascar
Tanzania
NigeriaBy region
Full ranking
| # | Country | Labor Force Participation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Madagascar | 85.5% | |
| 2 | Tanzania | 83.7% | |
| 3 | Nigeria | 82.5% | |
| 4 | Uganda | 80% | |
| 5 | Niger | 79.7% | |
| 6 | Mozambique | 78.7% | |
| 7 | Eritrea | 78.3% | |
| 8 | Burundi | 78.3% | |
| 9 | Liberia | 76.6% | |
| 10 | Benin | 76.4% | |
| 11 | Angola | 74.8% | |
| 12 | South Sudan | 73.4% | |
| 13 | Central African Republic | 73.4% | |
| 14 | Burkina Faso | 70% | |
| 15 | Botswana | 68.8% | |
| 16 | Ethiopia | 68.5% | |
| 17 | Republic of the Congo | 67.8% | |
| 18 | Zimbabwe | 67.7% | |
| 19 | Kenya | 67.4% | |
| 20 | Cote d'Ivoire | 67.1% | |
| 21 | Mali | 67% | |
| 22 | Cameroon | 65.2% | |
| 23 | Guinea-Bissau | 64.8% | |
| 24 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 64.3% | |
| 25 | Rwanda | 63.7% | |
| 26 | Malawi | 62.6% | |
| 27 | Zambia | 61.9% | |
| 28 | Equatorial Guinea | 60.5% | |
| 29 | Chad | 59.4% | |
| 30 | Namibia | 58.8% | |
| 31 | Mauritius | 58.5% | |
| 32 | Ghana | 58.5% | |
| 33 | Togo | 57.8% | |
| 34 | Lesotho | 57.1% | |
| 35 | Cabo Verde | 57% | |
| 36 | Comoros | 55.8% | |
| 37 | South Africa | 55.6% | |
| 38 | Sierra Leone | 53.4% | |
| 39 | Guinea | 52.6% | |
| 40 | Senegal | 52% | |
| 41 | Eswatini | 51.2% | |
| 42 | Gabon | 51.1% | |
| 43 | Libya | 48% | |
| 44 | Gambia | 47.5% | |
| 45 | Tunisia | 45.2% | |
| 46 | Egypt | 44.6% | |
| 47 | Morocco | 43.9% | |
| 48 | Algeria | 40.8% | |
| 49 | Mauritania | 40.8% | |
| 50 | Sudan | 37.5% | |
| 51 | Somalia | 33.8% | |
| 52 | Djibouti | 31.7% | |
| 53 | Sao Tome and Principe | 23.3% |
Uganda
Niger
Mozambique
Eritrea
Burundi
Liberia
Benin
Angola
South Sudan
Central African Republic
Burkina Faso
Botswana
Ethiopia
Republic of the Congo
Zimbabwe
Kenya
Cote d'Ivoire
Mali
Cameroon
Guinea-Bissau
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Rwanda
Malawi
Zambia
Equatorial Guinea
Chad
Namibia
Mauritius
Ghana
Togo
Lesotho
Cabo Verde
Comoros
South Africa
Sierra Leone
Guinea
Senegal
Eswatini
Gabon
Libya
Gambia
Tunisia
Egypt
Morocco
Algeria
Mauritania
Sudan
Somalia
Djibouti
Sao Tome and PrincipeGet this ranking via API
One call to /v1/data returns the latest Labor Force Participation figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=labor_force_participation_pct&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Cite or republish this ranking
Data: Africa API — World Bank — World Development Indicators, 2025. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.
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Frequently asked questions
Which African country has the highest labor force participation rate?
Madagascar has the highest labor force participation rate in Africa at 85.5% (2025), followed by Tanzania and Nigeria.
Which African country has the lowest labor force participation rate?
Sao Tome and Principe has the lowest labor force participation rate of the 53 African countries with data, at 23.3% (2025).
How many African countries report Labor Force Participation data?
53 of 54 African countries have a Labor Force Participation figure in the Africa API, each from the latest year available for that country (which can differ between countries, here 2022–2025). Every value links to its full series with source and history.
How do I get this ranking via API?
Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=labor_force_participation_pct&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.
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