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Australia — Labor participation
Labor Force Participation Rate for Australia, 1990–2025.
Latest value · 2025
66.54%
Labor Force Participation Rate · % of population ages 15+ · +4.1% since 1990
Labor participation for Australia was 66.54% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 36 years, from 1990 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 67.02% in 2023. The lowest was 62.60% in 1993 (about 1.1× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to 0.12% per year.
Australia ranks 50 of 187 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 27%. The median for East Asia & Pacific is 64.35%, so Australia sits above it. It peaked in 2023 and has fallen 1% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved up 2%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
66.54%
First (1990)
63.89%
Change
+4.1%
Highest
67.02%
in 2023
Lowest
62.60%
in 1993
Average
64.65%
Annual growth (CAGR)
0.12%
Years of data
36
Recent years
| Year | % of population ages 15+ |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 66.54% |
| 2024 | 66.72% |
| 2023 | 67.02% |
| 2022 | 66.89% |
| 2021 | 66.15% |
| 2020 | 65.03% |
| 2019 | 66.09% |
| 2018 | 65.8% |
| 2017 | 65.25% |
| 2016 | 64.95% |
| 2015 | 65.08% |
| 2014 | 64.79% |
Reading this correctly. Proportion of the population aged 15 and above that is economically active: supplying labor for the production of goods and services. Figures are in % of population ages 15+. Comparing this series with a different measure of the same concept (for example a nominal figure against a purchasing-power-parity figure) will give misleading results.
Related data
Source. World Bank Open Data, indicator
SL.TLF.CACT.ZS — Labor Force Participation Rate. Data licensed under CC BY 4.0. Values are reproduced as published; this page computes the summary statistics (change, CAGR, extremes) from the underlying annual series. View the original dataset on data.worldbank.org.