Female Labor Force Participation Rate by Country (1990–2025)

Female labor force participation rates for 200 countries from 1990 to 2025, showing global convergence with dramatic gains in Malta, Saudi Arabia, and Chile.
# Entity
Code
Year
Female labor force participation rate
1 Afghanistan AFG 1990 15.739
2 Afghanistan AFG 1991 15.695
3 Afghanistan AFG 1992 15.618
4 Afghanistan AFG 1993 15.506
5 Afghanistan AFG 1994 15.358
6 Afghanistan AFG 1995 15.194
7 Afghanistan AFG 1996 15.015
8 Afghanistan AFG 1997 14.819
9 Afghanistan AFG 1998 14.625
10 Afghanistan AFG 1999 14.443
11 Afghanistan AFG 2000 14.294
12 Afghanistan AFG 2001 14.196
13 Afghanistan AFG 2002 14.152
14 Afghanistan AFG 2003 14.154
15 Afghanistan AFG 2004 14.205
16 Afghanistan AFG 2005 14.302
17 Afghanistan AFG 2006 14.452
18 Afghanistan AFG 2007 14.67
19 Afghanistan AFG 2008 14.944
20 Afghanistan AFG 2009 15.248
21 Afghanistan AFG 2010 15.572
22 Afghanistan AFG 2011 15.893
23 Afghanistan AFG 2012 16.208
24 Afghanistan AFG 2013 17.138
25 Afghanistan AFG 2014 18.107
26 Afghanistan AFG 2015 19.113
27 Afghanistan AFG 2016 20.156
28 Afghanistan AFG 2017 21.24
29 Afghanistan AFG 2018 19.805
30 Afghanistan AFG 2019 18.298
31 Afghanistan AFG 2020 16.474
32 Afghanistan AFG 2021 14.616
33 Afghanistan AFG 2022 5.159
34 Afghanistan AFG 2023 5.145
35 Afghanistan AFG 2024 5.123
36 Afghanistan AFG 2025 5.086
37 Albania ALB 1990 53.47
38 Albania ALB 1991 59.052
39 Albania ALB 1992 60.357
40 Albania ALB 1993 58.56
41 Albania ALB 1994 57.037
42 Albania ALB 1995 54.819
43 Albania ALB 1996 53.351
44 Albania ALB 1997 55.15
45 Albania ALB 1998 53.714
46 Albania ALB 1999 51.824
47 Albania ALB 2000 50.831
48 Albania ALB 2001 49.68
49 Albania ALB 2002 49.088
50 Albania ALB 2003 48.461
51 Albania ALB 2004 47.845
52 Albania ALB 2005 47.242
53 Albania ALB 2006 46.652
54 Albania ALB 2007 46.076
55 Albania ALB 2008 45.514
56 Albania ALB 2009 45.955
57 Albania ALB 2010 46.835
58 Albania ALB 2011 52.561
59 Albania ALB 2012 48.936
60 Albania ALB 2013 43.783
61 Albania ALB 2014 43.958
62 Albania ALB 2015 47.117
63 Albania ALB 2016 49.888
64 Albania ALB 2017 49.736
65 Albania ALB 2018 51.406
66 Albania ALB 2019 52.931
67 Albania ALB 2020 52.252
68 Albania ALB 2021 52.523
69 Albania ALB 2022 56.407
70 Albania ALB 2023 57.963
71 Albania ALB 2024 58.154
72 Albania ALB 2025 58.567
73 Algeria DZA 1990 11.705
74 Algeria DZA 1991 11.674
75 Algeria DZA 1992 11.663
76 Algeria DZA 1993 11.574
77 Algeria DZA 1994 11.539
78 Algeria DZA 1995 11.624
79 Algeria DZA 1996 11.737
80 Algeria DZA 1997 11.763
81 Algeria DZA 1998 11.823
82 Algeria DZA 1999 11.914
83 Algeria DZA 2000 12.026
84 Algeria DZA 2001 12.16
85 Algeria DZA 2002 12.318
86 Algeria DZA 2003 12.503
87 Algeria DZA 2004 12.713
88 Algeria DZA 2005 12.954
89 Algeria DZA 2006 13.225
90 Algeria DZA 2007 13.528
91 Algeria DZA 2008 13.865
92 Algeria DZA 2009 14.234
93 Algeria DZA 2010 14.418
94 Algeria DZA 2011 14.614
95 Algeria DZA 2012 14.821
96 Algeria DZA 2013 15.036
97 Algeria DZA 2014 15.256
98 Algeria DZA 2015 15.258
99 Algeria DZA 2016 15.031
100 Algeria DZA 2017 14.919

Female Labor Force Participation Rate by Country (1990–2025) — Analysis

A 5x gap persists: Madagascar (83%) vs. Yemen (5%) in 2024 — the widest gender gap in economic participation

Malta leapt 29 percentage points since 1990, the largest gain of any country, while Tajikistan fell 22 points

Key Findings

  • The global average barely moved (48.1% → 49.1%) over 34 years, masking enormous divergence underneath
  • Saudi Arabia more than doubled its rate (15% → 33%), reflecting sweeping labor reforms since 2016
  • China's rate dropped 14 points (73% → 59%) as the economy shifted from agriculture to services
  • The bottom 10 countries are all in the Middle East and North Africa — a persistent regional pattern
  • Southern European and Gulf states drove the biggest gains; Sub-Saharan African rates mostly declined

Visualizations

Global Average Trend (1990–2024)
Lowest Participation Rates (2024)
Biggest Increases Since 1990
Divergent Paths: Six Countries (1990–2024)

Expand Analysis

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