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Social Dialogue, Labour Law and Labour Administration Department (DIALOGUE)   -   Social Dialogue
World Labour Report 1997-98
Industrial relations, democracy and social stability

Table 7. Labour force structure and trends

  Labour force Labour force participation rate (%)
  Total
(thousands) 		Annual growth
(%) 		Total Male Female
  1996 1980-1996 1980 1996 1980 1996 1980 1996
                 
Africa                
Algeria 9 061 4.0 26.0 33.7 41.1 46.5 11.1 16.0
Angola 5 144 2.5 49.4 45.9 53.3 49.8 45.7 42.0
Benin 2 490 2.6 47.9 45.1 51.4 47.0 44.5 42.4
Botswana 654 3.2 43.6 44.4 45.5 48.7 41.8 39.6
Burkina Faso 5 419 2.3 54.6 49.3 57.7 53.8 51.6 46.7
Burundi 3 337 2.4 54.9 54.5 56.9 55.9 53.1 51.1
Cameroon 5 500 2.6 41.8 40.7 53.6 50.9 30.4 30.3
Cape Verde 157 3.2 32.5 41.2 46.4 51.3 20.6 29.1
Central African Rep. 1 623 1.8 52.5 48.3 56.6 53.3 48.8 44.0
Chad 3 145 2.3 49.9 48.4 57.4 54.3 42.6 42.3
Comoros 286 3.2 45.4 45.7 51.1 51.4 39.6 38.9
Congo 1 105 2.9 42.1 41.3 49.8 47.9 34.9 35.1
Congo, Dem. Rep. of 19 622 2.3 44.5 41.2 50.4 48.0 38.8 36.2
Cote d'Ivoire 5 526 3.3 40.0 40.0 53.1 52.1 26.4 26.5
Egypt 23 203 2.6 35.0 38.1 50.7 51.2 18.9 21.7
Equatorial Guinea 171 3.6 44.5 41.6 58.5 54.7 31.0 29.1
Eritrea 1 649 1.9 51.1 50.1 54.2 53.0 48.1 47.0
Ethiopia 25 392 2.8 44.9 42.9 52.4 51.2 37.5 35.7
Gabon 519 2.3 52.4 45.5 58.7 52.7 46.3 41.0
Gambia 579 3.6 51.5 50.5 57.6 56.8 45.5 45.2
Ghana 8 393 3.1 47.4 47.5 46.8 46.7 47.9 47.3
Guinea 3 565 2.8 51.4 47.4 54.4 50.2 48.4 45.5
Guinea-Bissau 514 1.6 50.1 46.9 61.3 57.1 39.3 37.4
Kenya 13 953 3.7 47.1 51.6 50.8 54.1 43.3 46.3
Lesotho 847 2.5 41.9 41.2 53.7 52.2 30.8 29.5
Liberia 977 1.3 42.1 40.4 51.5 50.0 32.6 33.1
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 1 601 3.4 31.0 28.6 47.7 43.2 12.2 12.7
Madagascar 7 199 3.1 48.7 47.2 54.0 51.9 43.6 41.8
Malawi 4 807 2.8 50.3 48.1 51.4 50.0 49.3 46.8
Mali 5 472 2.8 51.5 48.8 56.2 53.5 47.0 44.8
Mauritania 1 072 2.3 48.1 46.2 53.5 52.0 42.8 39.9
Mauritius 478 2.1 35.5 43.2 53.5 57.8 18.0 26.8
Morocco 10 488 2.6 36.0 40.0 47.7 50.7 24.1 26.9
Mozambique 9 221 2.0 55.3 51.8 57.3 54.4 53.3 49.7
Namibia 650 2.4 43.3 41.2 52.7 49.3 34.3 33.5
Niger 4 497 3.0 49.9 47.0 56.2 53.5 43.8 41.5
Nigeria 45 565 2.7 41.5 39.6 53.6 51.0 29.7 28.3
Rwanda 3 021 0.8 51.1 54.2 52.7 55.1 49.6 51.4
Senegal 3 815 2.6 45.9 44.7 53.1 51.2 38.7 38.0
Sierra Leone 1 610 1.6 38.6 37.2 50.8 48.3 26.9 26.5
Somalia 4 291 2.1 45.8 42.8 52.4 49.6 39.3 37.2
South Africa 16 635 2.7 37.5 39.7 48.9 49.3 26.2 29.2
Sudan 10 652 1.5 36.6 39.9 53.4 55.5 19.7 22.4
Swaziland 315 0.8 35.7 36.7 48.2 46.8 23.7 25.8
Tanzania, United Rep. of 15 793 2.2 51.2 51.4 52.2 52.6 50.2 50.1
Togo 1 739 1.6 43.6 41.4 53.7 50.1 33.8 32.8
Tunisia 3 459 2.7 34.3 39.6 48.0 51.7 20.1 23.5
Uganda 10 084 -0.1 51.7 49.0 54.3 52.5 49.1 47.2
Zambia 3 454 3.2 41.8 42.5 46.7 46.3 37.1 37.2
Zimbabwe 5 281 . 44.9 46.2 50.4 51.8 39.5 40.7
                 
Americas                
Argentina 13 809 1.6 38.0 40.5 55.8 54.8 20.7 24.2
Bahamas 150 3.3 42.5 54.6 48.4 57.3 36.7 48.5
Barbados 136 1.2 44.9 53.4 53.3 57.6 37.2 46.9
Belize 73 3.3 29.8 34.3 46.7 50.4 12.7 15.4
Bolivia 3 057 2.6 37.6 40.7 50.9 50.7 24.7 29.9
Brazil 73 733 2.8 39.2 46.8 56.2 59.9 22.2 32.0
Canada 15 796 1.6 49.6 53.8 60.1 59.0 39.1 47.6
Chile 5 740 2.6 34.3 40.8 51.3 54.6 17.8 25.4
Colombia 15 366 3.5 33.2 43.6 49.2 53.0 17.3 31.6
Costa Rica 1 369 3.5 34.7 40.0 54.5 54.2 14.6 23.7
Cuba 5 323 2.3 38.4 49.6 52.1 59.5 24.4 37.1
Dominican Rep. 3 379 3.0 36.9 44.0 54.7 59.0 18.5 25.4
Ecuador 4 390 3.5 32.0 39.1 50.8 54.7 12.9 20.2
El Salvador 2 383 2.8 33.9 43.3 50.4 54.8 17.8 28.0
Guatemala 3 923 3.2 34.3 36.9 52.6 52.0 15.5 19.4
Guyana 353 2.2 32.9 43.7 49.8 57.0 16.4 27.6
Haiti 3 209 1.5 47.3 43.9 53.5 51.3 41.4 37.3
Honduras 2 105 3.6 33.5 37.6 49.9 50.0 17.0 22.1
Jamaica 1 281 1.8 44.8 52.5 48.8 55.2 41.0 47.6
Mexico 36 683 3.2 32.6 41.2 47.7 54.3 17.6 25.1
Nicaragua 1 642 3.5 34.1 40.5 49.4 51.0 18.7 26.5
Panama 1 095 3.0 35.0 42.2 48.2 53.2 21.2 28.3
Paraguay 1 831 3.0 36.9 37.8 53.8 51.8 19.7 21.7
Peru 8 652 3.0 31.3 37.8 47.3 50.9 15.0 21.5
Suriname 157 2.9 29.0 38.1 42.7 49.4 15.5 23.3
Trinidad and Tobago 549 2.8 39.1 44.7 53.5 53.5 24.7 29.7
United States 136 884 1.4 48.5 51.4 58.2 56.4 39.1 45.4
Uruguay 1 444 2.5 39.6 45.9 55.8 54.8 24.0 35.9
Venezuela 8 785 2.5 34.2 40.9 49.5 52.0 18.5 26.6
                 
Asia                
Afghanistan 8 851 1.6 42.8 42.0 54.4 53.8 30.5 30.5
Australia 9 144 2.0 45.9 51.0 58.1 58.0 33.7 43.3
Bahrain 253 3.9 39.4 45.1 60.3 62.6 10.3 20.3
Bangladesh 60 374 2.4 47.1 52.8 52.7 56.6 41.2 43.5
Bhutan 888 1.8 51.5 48.0 61.9 58.4 40.9 38.9
Brunei Darussalam 131 4.0 36.0 44.8 51.8 54.7 18.0 31.5
Cambodia 5 322 2.6 54.0 52.4 52.1 51.4 55.7 52.3
China 736 325 1.9 54.9 59.9 60.6 63.7 48.9 55.6
Fiji 303 2.5 32.1 40.6 52.4 53.9 11.2 21.7
Hong Kong (before 1.7.97) 3 210 1.6 49.2 52.9 62.2 63.6 35.2 39.6
India 411 020 2.0 43.6 44.4 55.8 57.4 30.5 28.6
Indonesia 93 618 2.9 39.5 48.4 51.5 56.2 27.7 37.2
Iran, Islamic Rep. of 21 015 3.7 30.0 30.9 47.0 44.4 12.4 15.2
Iraq 5 573 2.9 27.1 27.7 44.1 43.2 9.6 10.1
Japan 67 044 1.0 49.0 53.8 61.9 64.4 36.6 43.0
Jordan 1 595 5.3 23.8 29.8 39.2 43.6 7.2 13.0
Korea, Dem. People's Rep. of 11 881 2.7 43.6 52.4 48.3 59.7 38.9 46.1
Korea, Rep. of 22 399 2.3 40.8 51.1 49.5 58.3 31.9 40.4
Kuwait 656 1.7 36.2 40.5 55.0 49.9 11.1 24.3
Lao People's Dem. Rep. 2 432 2.4 51.6 47.6 56.1 51.8 47.1 44.8
Lebanon 1 031 2.0 28.3 35.1 44.5 49.3 12.6 18.7
Malaysia 8 277 2.8 38.5 41.3 50.7 50.2 26.1 30.1
Maldives 107 2.3 47.1 40.4 55.5 45.7 37.7 35.6
Mongolia 1 222 2.9 46.4 50.1 50.3 51.6 42.5 45.5
Myanmar 24 139 2.2 50.7 53.1 57.0 59.6 44.3 45.5
Nepal 10 179 2.3 48.5 46.4 57.9 54.4 38.5 37.8
New Zealand 1 780 1.9 42.5 50.1 56.1 55.8 29.1 43.2
Oman 623 3.9 29.8 26.5 51.9 43.3 4.1 8.4
Pakistan 51 292 3.4 35.4 37.5 52.2 51.8 16.9 20.3
Papua New Guinea 2 160 2.2 49.3 49.2 54.8 55.4 43.2 42.4
Philippines 28 611 2.6 39.0 42.2 50.6 51.4 27.4 31.1
Qatar 308 7.0 45.6 54.4 67.1 72.2 8.1 21.7
Samoa . . . . . . . .
Saudi Arabia 6 187 5.0 29.5 32.9 50.5 50.6 4.9 10.1
Singapore 1 706 2.7 46.3 49.7 59.3 61.2 32.7 39.6
Solomon Islands 202 3.5 51.0 51.4 51.8 53.4 50.2 49.6
Sri Lanka 7 652 2.8 36.8 43.9 52.8 54.6 20.2 30.1
Syrian Arab Rep. 4 396 3.7 28.4 31.9 42.7 44.1 13.6 15.8
Thailand 34 916 2.7 52.2 60.6 54.8 63.8 49.5 55.2
Turkmenistan 1 750 2.5 41.4 43.4 44.6 46.5 38.2 37.9
United Arab Emirates 1 126 0.5 53.8 49.4 73.9 67.5 8.8 18.7
Viet Nam 38 291 4.6 47.7 51.5 51.1 52.5 44.5 49.4
Yemen 4 945 0.6 29.1 31.5 41.2 45.4 18.1 17.7
                 
Europe                
Albania 1 672 2.1 45.1 49.9 53.5 56.6 36.1 41.1
Armenia 1 768 1.3 46.8 50.3 50.0 51.8 43.8 45.5
Austria 3 776 0.7 45.0 46.8 56.7 56.8 34.5 36.9
Azerbaijan 3 283 1.2 44.1 44.7 47.5 49.5 40.8 37.3
Belarus 5 351 0.3 52.8 52.6 57.0 56.5 49.2 47.6
Belgium 4 198 0.4 40.1 41.6 54.2 50.4 26.6 32.7
Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 719 0.7 39.3 46.8 53.6 57.8 25.4 34.7
Bulgaria 4 296 -0.4 51.8 50.9 56.9 53.7 46.8 47.8
Croatia 2 113 0.1 47.3 47.3 58.4 54.7 36.8 39.7
Cyprus 363 1.5 47.2 48.5 62.1 59.2 32.3 36.9
Czech Rep. 5 625 0.3 52.0 56.2 56.7 59.0 47.6 50.9
Denmark 2 935 0.5 53.1 55.1 60.3 60.9 46.1 51.4
Estonia 807 -0.1 55.4 55.6 59.1 59.4 52.2 50.7
Finland 2 603 0.5 50.5 50.4 55.9 54.5 45.4 47.4
France 26 046 0.6 44.2 45.4 54.2 51.0 34.7 38.7
Georgia 2 655 0.2 50.4 49.4 54.5 54.7 46.8 43.3
Germany 40 935 0.6 47.8 49.8 60.2 59.4 36.6 41.1
Greece 4 454 1.1 39.0 43.3 57.3 54.4 21.4 30.9
Hungary 4 737 -0.5 47.8 47.9 56.0 54.7 40.1 40.2
Iceland 152 1.6 51.5 56.4 59.4 61.4 43.4 50.9
Ireland 1 435 0.8 37.0 42.5 53.0 53.9 20.9 27.0
Israel 2 365 3.1 37.4 43.4 49.6 50.6 25.2 33.4
Italy 25 314 0.7 40.0 44.6 55.1 56.6 25.7 32.6
Kazakstan 8 059 0.9 47.2 48.9 51.4 52.7 43.3 43.3
Kyrgyzstan 1 885 1.2 42.7 43.2 46.1 45.7 39.4 38.6
Latvia 1 363 -0.2 56.0 54.7 59.8 59.1 52.7 50.3
Lithuania 1 919 0.4 52.6 51.9 56.2 56.7 49.5 46.8
Luxembourg 177 0.9 41.8 42.6 57.7 55.4 26.6 31.1
Macedonia, FYR of 997 1.6 42.8 46.8 54.1 53.8 31.3 37.9
Malta 138 1.0 36.4 38.1 58.8 55.8 15.1 19.8
Moldova, Rep. of 2 181 0.2 52.3 50.3 55.0 52.9 49.9 45.6
Netherlands 7 250 1.6 39.9 46.5 55.1 56.5 24.9 36.8
Norway 2 238 0.9 47.5 52.0 57.0 56.3 38.2 46.8
Poland 19 375 0.3 52.1 51.4 58.4 55.6 46.0 45.1
Portugal 4 920 0.4 47.2 50.8 59.7 58.8 35.4 42.1
Romania 10 673 -0.1 49.2 47.9 54.0 53.1 44.4 41.2
Russian Fed. 77 367 0.1 54.7 53.4 60.0 57.4 50.1 47.8
Slovakia 2 838 0.9 49.6 54.8 55.2 56.9 44.2 49.5
Slovenia 965 0.3 50.1 50.7 56.1 55.5 44.5 45.2
Spain 17 049 1.2 37.3 44.2 54.6 55.8 20.8 30.6
Sweden 4 769 2.4 50.6 54.1 57.4 57.0 44.0 51.3
Switzerland 3 862 2.7 48.4 53.8 62.9 64.9 34.6 42.3
Tajikistan 2 238 3.2 39.0 39.3 41.9 42.5 36.2 32.9
Turkey 28 611 2.5 42.1 48.0 53.6 58.2 30.4 34.1
Ukraine 25 814 4.6 52.8 50.7 57.5 55.5 48.8 45.3
United Kingdom 28 967 1.3 47.8 50.1 60.0 57.6 36.3 42.4
Uzbekistan 9 504 3.4 40.4 42.4 42.8 44.3 38.2 37.6
Yugoslavia 4 858 3.1 46.2 47.9 57.2 54.6 35.4 39.8


Updated by MB. Approved by PD. Last Updated 1 Nov 2002.

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