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Italy — Labor participation
Labor Force Participation Rate for Italy, 1990–2025.
Latest value · 2025
49.30%
Labor Force Participation Rate · % of population ages 15+ · -1.5% since 1990
Labor participation for Italy was 49.30% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 36 years, from 1990 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 50.33% in 1991. The lowest was 46.87% in 1995 (about 1.1× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to -0.04% per year.
Italy ranks 161 of 187 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 86%. The median for Europe & Central Asia is 60.12%, so Italy sits below it. It peaked in 1991 and has fallen 2% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved up 1%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
49.30%
First (1990)
50.07%
Change
-1.5%
Highest
50.33%
in 1991
Lowest
46.87%
in 1995
Average
48.59%
Annual growth (CAGR)
-0.04%
Years of data
36
Recent years
| Year | % of population ages 15+ |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 49.3% |
| 2024 | 49.59% |
| 2023 | 49.8% |
| 2022 | 49.03% |
| 2021 | 48.44% |
| 2020 | 48.22% |
| 2019 | 49.59% |
| 2018 | 49.62% |
| 2017 | 49.5% |
| 2016 | 49.16% |
| 2015 | 48.62% |
| 2014 | 48.73% |
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.