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 |