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Field Listing :: Labor force
This entry contains the total labor force figure.
Country Comparison to the World
Country
Labor force
Afghanistan 15 million (2004 est.)
Albania 1.103 million (not including 352,000 emigrant workers) (2007 est.)
Algeria 9.464 million (2008 est.)
American Samoa 17,630 (2005)
Andorra 42,230 (2007)
Angola 7.569 million (2008 est.)
Anguilla 6,049 (2001)
Antigua and Barbuda 30,000 (1991)
Argentina 16.27 million
note: urban areas only (2008 est.)
Armenia 1.481 million (2007 est.)
Aruba 41,500 (2004 est.)
Australia 11.25 million (2008 est.)
Austria 3.633 million (2008 est.)
Azerbaijan 5.782 million (2008 est.)
Bahamas, The 175,500 (2007)
Bahrain 557,000
note: 44% of the population in the 15-64 age group is non-national (2008 est.)
Bangladesh 70.86 million
note: extensive export of labor to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Malaysia; workers' remittances estimated at $4.8 billion in 2005-06. (2008 est.)
Barbados 175,000 (2007 est.)
Belarus 4.869 million (2007)
Belgium 4.99 million (2008)
Belize 122,300
note: shortage of skilled labor and all types of technical personnel (2008 est.)
Benin 3.662 million (2007 est.)
Bermuda 38,360 (2004)
Bhutan NA
note: major shortage of skilled labor
Bolivia 4.454 million (2008 est.)
Bosnia and Herzegovina 1.863 million (2007)
Botswana 685,300 formal sector employees (2007)
Brazil 93.65 million (2008 est.)
British Virgin Islands 12,770 (2004)
Brunei 188,800 (2008 est.)
Bulgaria 2.67 million (2008 est.)
Burkina Faso 6.668 million
note: a large part of the male labor force migrates annually to neighboring countries for seasonal employment (2007)
Burma 30.04 million (2008 est.)
Burundi 4.245 million (2007)
Cambodia 8.6 million (2008 est.)
Cameroon 6.759 million (2008 est.)
Canada 18.22 million (2008 est.)
Cape Verde 196,100 (2007)
Cayman Islands 23,450 (2004)
Central African Republic 1.926 million (2007)
Chad 4.293 million (2007)
Chile 7.267 million (2008 est.)
China 807.3 million (2008 est.)
Christmas Island NA
Cocos (Keeling) Islands NA
Colombia 21.3 million (2008 est.)
Comoros 268,500 (2007 est.)
Congo, Democratic Republic of the 23.53 million (2007 est.)
Congo, Republic of the NA
Cook Islands 6,820 (2001)
Costa Rica 2.06 million
note: this official estimate excludes Nicaraguans living in Costa Rica (2008 est.)
Cote d'Ivoire 7.346 million (68% agricultural) (2008 est.)
Croatia 1.731 million (2008 est.)
Cuba 4.962 million
note: state sector 78%, non-state sector 22% (2008 est.)
Cyprus 397,000 (2008 est.)
Czech Republic 5.36 million (2008 est.)
Denmark 2.88 million (2008 est.)
Djibouti 351,700 (2007)
Dominica 25,000 (2000 est.)
Dominican Republic 4.119 million (2008 est.)
Ecuador 4.64 million (urban) (2008 est.)
Egypt 24.6 million (2008 est.)
El Salvador 2.947 million (2008 est.)
Equatorial Guinea NA
Eritrea NA
Estonia 693,000 (2008 est.)
Ethiopia 37.9 million (2007)
European Union 224.4 million (2008 est.)
Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) 1,724 (est.) (1996)
Faroe Islands 24,250 (October 2000)
Fiji 335,000 (2007 est.)
Finland 2.703 million (2008 est.)
France 27.97 million (2008 est.)
French Polynesia 116,000 (2007)
Gabon 581,000 (2008 est.)
Gambia, The 777,100 (2007)
Gaza Strip 267,000 (2006)
Georgia 2.317 million (2007 est.)
Germany 43.6 million (2008 est.)
Ghana 10.12 million (2008 est.)
Gibraltar 12,690 (including non-Gibraltar laborers) (2001)
Greece 4.96 million (2008 est.)
Greenland 32,120 (2004)
Grenada 42,300 (1996)
Guam 82,950 (2007 est.)
Guatemala 4.056 million (2008 est.)
Guernsey 31,470 (March 2006)
Guinea 4.392 million (2007 est.)
Guinea-Bissau 632,700 (2007)
Guyana 333,900 (2007 est.)
Haiti 3.643 million
note: shortage of skilled labor, unskilled labor abundant (2007)
Holy See (Vatican City) NA
Honduras 2.991 million (2008 est.)
Hong Kong 3.66 million (2008 est.)
Hungary 4.2 million (2008 est.)
Iceland 184,000 (2008 est.)
India 523.5 million (2008 est.)
Indonesia 112 million (2008 est.)
Iran 24.35 million
note: shortage of skilled labor (2008 est.)
Iraq 7.74 million (2008 est.)
Ireland 2.241 million (2008 est.)
Isle of Man 39,690 (2001)
Israel 2.957 million (2008 est.)
Italy 25.11 million (2008 est.)
Jamaica 1.304 million (2008 est.)
Japan 66.5 million (2008 est.)
Jersey 53,560 (June 2006)
Jordan 1.615 million (2008 est.)
Kazakhstan 8.412 million (2008 est.)
Kenya 17.37 million (2007 est.)
Kiribati 7,870 economically active, not including subsistence farmers (2001 est.)
Korea, North 20 million
note: estimates vary widely (2004 est.)
Korea, South 24.35 million (2008 est.)
Kosovo 550,000 (2007 est.)
Kuwait 2.088 million
note: non-Kuwaitis represent about 60% of the labor force (2008 est.)
Kyrgyzstan 2.344 million (2007)
Laos 2.1 million (2006 est.)
Latvia 1.193 million (2008 est.)
Lebanon 1.481 million
note: in addition, there are as many as 1 million foreign workers (2007 est.)
Lesotho 854,600 (2007 est.)
Libya 1.64 million (2008 est.)
Liechtenstein 32,440 of whom 13,900 commute from Austria, Switzerland, and Germany to work each day (2007)
Lithuania 1.614 million (2008 est.)
Luxembourg 206,000 of whom 125,400 are foreign cross-border workers commuting primarily from France, Belgium, and Germany (2008 est.)
Macau 337,400 (2008 est.)
Macedonia 925,000 (2008 est.)
Madagascar 9.504 million (2007)
Malawi 5.747 million (2007 est.)
Malaysia 11.09 million (2008 est.)
Maldives 136,100 (2007)
Mali 3.241 million (2007 est.)
Malta 173,000 (2008)
Marshall Islands 14,680 (2000)
Mauritania 1.318 million (2007)
Mauritius 584,000 (2008 est.)
Mayotte 44,560 (2002)
Mexico 45.32 million (2008 est.)
Micronesia, Federated States of 16,360 (2008)
Moldova 1.327 million (2008 est.)
Monaco 44,000
note: includes workers from all foreign countries (2005 est.)
Mongolia 1.068 million (2008)
Montenegro 259,100 (2004)
Montserrat NA
Morocco 11.29 million (2008 est.)
Mozambique 9.65 million (2008 est.)
Namibia 686,000 (2008 est.)
Nepal 14.6 million
note: severe lack of skilled labor (2008 est.)
Netherlands 7.715 million (2008 est.)
Netherlands Antilles 91,470 (2007)
New Caledonia 102,600 (2007)
New Zealand 2.25 million (2008 est.)
Nicaragua 2.322 million (2008 est.)
Niger 4.688 million (2007)
Nigeria 51.04 million (2008 est.)
Niue 663 (2001)
Norfolk Island NA
Northern Mariana Islands 38,450 total indigenous labor force; 2,699 unemployed; 28,717 foreign workers (2005 est.)
Norway 2.591 million (2008 est.)
Oman 968,800
note: about 60% of the labor force is non-national (2007)
Pakistan 50.58 million
note: extensive export of labor, mostly to the Middle East, and use of child labor (2008 est.)
Palau 9,777 (2005)
Panama 1.392 million
note: shortage of skilled labor, but an oversupply of unskilled labor (2008 est.)
Papua New Guinea 3.639 million (2008 est.)
Paraguay 2.839 million (2008 est.)
Peru 10.2 million (2008 est.)
Philippines 36.81 million (2008 est.)
Pitcairn Islands 15 able-bodied men (2004)
Poland 17.01 million (2008 est.)
Portugal 5.625 million (2008 est.)
Puerto Rico 1.479 million (2007)
Qatar 1.119 million (2008 est.)
Romania 9.32 million (2008 est.)
Russia 75.7 million (2008 est.)
Rwanda 4.446 million (2007)
Saint Helena 2,486
note: 1,200 work offshore (1998 est.)
Saint Kitts and Nevis 18,170 (June 1995)
Saint Lucia 79,700 (2007)
Saint Pierre and Miquelon 3,450 (2005)
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 57,520 (2007 est.)
Samoa 66,270 (2007 est.)
San Marino 22,660 (2008)
Sao Tome and Principe 52,490 (2007)
Saudi Arabia 6.74 million
note: about 80% of the labor force is non-national (2008 est.)
Senegal 4.973 million (2008 est.)
Serbia 2.961 million (2002 est.)
Seychelles 39,560 (2006)
Sierra Leone 2.207 million (2007 est.)
Singapore 2.94 million (2008 est.)
Slovakia 2.254 million (2008 est.)
Slovenia 940,000 (2008 est.)
Solomon Islands 202,500 (2007)
Somalia 3.447 million (few skilled laborers) (2007)
South Africa 17.79 million economically active (2008 est.)
Spain 22.85 million (2008 est.)
Sri Lanka 7.569 million
note: excludes northern and eastern provinces (2008 est.)
Sudan 11.92 million (2007 est.)
Suriname 165,600 (2007)
Svalbard NA
Swaziland 457,900 (2007)
Sweden 4.897 million (2008 est.)
Switzerland 4.053 million (2008 est.)
Syria 5.593 million (2008 est.)
Taiwan 10.85 million (2008 est.)
Tajikistan 2.1 million (2008)
Tanzania 21.06 million (2008 est.)
Thailand 37.78 million (2008 est.)
Timor-Leste NA
Togo 2.595 million (2007)
Tokelau 440 (2001)
Tonga 39,960 (2007)
Trinidad and Tobago 620,800 (2008 est.)
Tunisia 3.66 million (2008 est.)
Turkey 24.06 million
note: about 1.2 million Turks work abroad (2008 est.)
Turkmenistan 13.51 million (2007 est.)
Turks and Caicos Islands 4,848 (1990 est.)
Tuvalu 3,615 (2004 est.)
Uganda 14.54 million (2008 est.)
Ukraine 21.57 million (2008 est.)
United Arab Emirates 3.266 million
note: expatriates account for about 85% of the work force (2008 est.)
United Kingdom 31.23 million (2008 est.)
United States 154.3 million (includes unemployed) (2008 est.)
Uruguay 1.641 million (2008 est.)
Uzbekistan 15.37 million (2008 est.)
Vanuatu 115,900 (2007)
Venezuela 12.59 million (2008 est.)
Vietnam 47.41 million (2008 est.)
Virgin Islands 49,820 (2007 est.)
Wallis and Futuna 3,104 (2003)
West Bank 605,000 (2006)
Western Sahara 12,000 (2005 est.)
World 3.232 billion (2008 est.)
Yemen 6.454 million (2008 est.)
Zambia 5.235 million (2008 est.)
Zimbabwe 4.039 million (2008 est.)
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