Home / Labor participation / Ethiopia
Ethiopia — Labor participation
Labor Force Participation Rate for Ethiopia, 1990–2025.
Latest value · 2025
68.46%
Labor Force Participation Rate · % of population ages 15+ · -16.3% since 1990
Labor participation for Ethiopia was 68.46% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 36 years, from 1990 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 82.08% in 2001. The lowest was 68.25% in 2021 (about 1.0× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to -0.51% per year.
Ethiopia ranks 33 of 187 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 18%. The median for Sub-Saharan Africa is 64.31%, so Ethiopia sits above it. It peaked in 2001 and has fallen 17% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved down 12%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
68.46%
First (1990)
81.81%
Change
-16.3%
Highest
82.08%
in 2001
Lowest
68.25%
in 2021
Average
78.58%
Annual growth (CAGR)
-0.51%
Years of data
36
Recent years
| Year | % of population ages 15+ |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 68.46% |
| 2024 | 68.47% |
| 2023 | 68.46% |
| 2022 | 68.47% |
| 2021 | 68.25% |
| 2020 | 69.39% |
| 2019 | 71.57% |
| 2018 | 73.16% |
| 2017 | 74.76% |
| 2016 | 76.37% |
| 2015 | 77.98% |
| 2014 | 79.61% |
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.