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United Arab Emirates — Labor participation
Labor Force Participation Rate for United Arab Emirates, 1990–2025.
Latest value · 2025
78.59%
Labor Force Participation Rate · % of population ages 15+ · +5.7% since 1990
Labor participation for United Arab Emirates was 78.59% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 36 years, from 1990 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 79.47% in 2019. The lowest was 74.35% in 1990 (about 1.1× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to 0.16% per year.
United Arab Emirates ranks 12 of 187 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 6%. The median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan is 44.99%, so United Arab Emirates sits above it. It peaked in 2019 and has fallen 1% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved up 1%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
78.59%
First (1990)
74.35%
Change
+5.7%
Highest
79.47%
in 2019
Lowest
74.35%
in 1990
Average
76.69%
Annual growth (CAGR)
0.16%
Years of data
36
Recent years
| Year | % of population ages 15+ |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 78.59% |
| 2024 | 78.48% |
| 2023 | 78.37% |
| 2022 | 77.24% |
| 2021 | 77.05% |
| 2020 | 78.78% |
| 2019 | 79.47% |
| 2018 | 79.11% |
| 2017 | 78.76% |
| 2016 | 78.45% |
| 2015 | 78% |
| 2014 | 77.67% |
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.