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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 (2009 est.)
Algeria 9.612 million (2009 est.)
American Samoa 17,630 (2005)
Andorra 42,220 (2008)
Angola 7.769 million (2009 est.)
Anguilla 6,049 (2001)
Antigua and Barbuda 30,000 (1991)
Argentina 16.54 million
note: urban areas only (2009 est.)
Armenia 1.481 million (2007 est.)
Aruba 41,500 (2004 est.)
Australia 11.44 million (2009 est.)
Austria 3.68 million (2009 est.)
Azerbaijan 4.318 million (2008 est.)
Bahamas, The 184,000 (2009)
Bahrain 595,000
note: 44% of the population in the 15-64 age group is non-national (2009 est.)
Bangladesh 72.5 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. (2009 est.)
Barbados 175,000 (2007 est.)
Belarus 5 million (2009)
Belgium 5.01 million (2009 est.)
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 299,900
note: major shortage of skilled labor (2008)
Bolivia 4.536 million (2009 est.)
Bosnia and Herzegovina 1.863 million (2007)
Botswana 685,300 formal sector employees (2007)
Brazil 95.21 million (2009 est.)
British Virgin Islands 12,770 (2004)
Brunei 188,800 (2008 est.)
Bulgaria 3.2 million (2009 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 30.85 million (2009 est.)
Burundi 4.245 million (2007)
Cambodia 8 million (2009 est.)
Cameroon 7.313 million (2009 est.)
Canada 18.4 million (2009 est.)
Cape Verde 196,100 (2007)
Cayman Islands 39,000
note: nearly 55% are non-nationals (2007)
Central African Republic 1.926 million (2007)
Chad 4.293 million (2007)
Chile 7.42 million (2009 est.)
China 812.7 million (2009 est.)
Christmas Island NA
Cocos (Keeling) Islands NA
Colombia 21.53 million (2009 est.)
Comoros 268,500 (2007 est.)
Congo, Democratic Republic of the 23.53 million (2007 est.)
Congo, Republic of the 1.514 million (2007)
Cook Islands 6,820 (2001)
Costa Rica 2.09 million
note: this official estimate excludes Nicaraguans living in Costa Rica (2009 est.)
Cote d'Ivoire 7.463 million (2009 est.) (2009 est.)
Croatia 1.196 million (November 2009 est.)
Cuba 4.968 million
note: state sector 78%, non-state sector 22% (2009 est.)
Cyprus 400,000 (2009 est.)
Czech Republic 5.38 million (2009 est.)
Denmark 2.94 million (2009 est.)
Djibouti 351,700 (2007)
Dominica 25,000 (2000 est.)
Dominican Republic 4.417 million (2009 est.)
Ecuador 4.43 million (urban) (2009 est.)
Egypt 25.8 million (2009 est.)
El Salvador 2.917 million (2009 est.)
Equatorial Guinea 195,200 NA
Eritrea 1.935 million NA
Estonia 700,000 (2009 est.)
Ethiopia 37.9 million (2007)
European Union 224.8 million (2009 est.)
Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) 1,724 (1996) (1996)
Faroe Islands 34,680 (November 2008)
Fiji 335,000 (2007 est.)
Finland 2.68 million (2009 est.)
France 27.99 million (2009 est.)
French Polynesia 116,000 (2007)
Gabon 633,000 (2009 est.)
Gambia, The 777,100 (2007)
Gaza Strip 339,000 (2009)
Georgia 1.918 million (2007 est.)
Germany 43.51 million (2009 est.)
Ghana 10.33 million (2009 est.)
Gibraltar 12,690 (including non-Gibraltar laborers) (2001)
Greece 5 million (2009 est.)
Greenland 28,240 (January 2009)
Grenada 42,300 (1996)
Guam 82,950 (2007 est.)
Guatemala 4.157 million (2009 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 3.052 million (2009 est.)
Hong Kong 3.67 million (2009 est.)
Hungary 3.8 million (January 2010 est.)
Iceland 180,900 (2009 est.)
India 467 million (2009 est.)
Indonesia 113.3 million (2009 est.)
Iran 25.02 million
note: shortage of skilled labor (2009 est.)
Iraq 8.175 million (2008 est.)
Ireland 2.2 million (2009 est.)
Isle of Man 39,690 (2001)
Israel 3.01 million (2009 est.)
Italy 24.95 million (2009 est.)
Jamaica 1.311 million (2009 est.)
Japan 65.93 million (2009 est.)
Jersey 53,560 (June 2006)
Jordan 1.667 million (2009 est.)
Kazakhstan 8.7 million (2009 est.)
Kenya 17.47 million (2009 est.)
Kiribati 7,870 economically active, not including subsistence farmers (2001 est.)
Korea, North 20 million
note: estimates vary widely (2004 est.)
Korea, South 24.37 million (2009 est.)
Kosovo 550,000 (2007 est.)
Kuwait 2.04 million
note: non-Kuwaitis represent about 60% of the labor force (2009 est.)
Kyrgyzstan 2.344 million (2007)
Laos 3.65 million (2009 est.)
Latvia 1.205 million (2009 est.)
Lebanon 1.481 million
note: in addition, there are as many as 1 million foreign workers (2007 est.)
Lesotho 854,600 (2007 est.)
Liberia 1.372 million (2007)
Libya 1.686 million (2009 est.)
Liechtenstein 32,440 of whom 16,200 commute from Austria, Switzerland, and Germany to work each day (2008)
Lithuania 1.656 million (2009 est.)
Luxembourg 208,000 of whom 125,400 are foreign cross-border workers commuting primarily from France, Belgium, and Germany (2009 est.)
Macau 322,000 (2009 est.)
Macedonia 940,700 (2009 est.)
Madagascar 9.504 million (2007)
Malawi 5.747 million (2007 est.)
Malaysia 11.29 million (2009 est.)
Maldives 144,000 (2009)
Mali 3.241 million (2007 est.)
Malta 175,000 (2008 est.)
Marshall Islands 14,680 (2000)
Mauritania 1.318 million (2007)
Mauritius 594,000 (2009 est.)
Mayotte 44,560 (2002)
Mexico 47 million (2009 est.)
Micronesia, Federated States of 16,360 (2008)
Moldova 1.336 million (2009 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 11.46 million (2009 est.)
Mozambique 9.77 million (2009 est.)
Namibia 716,000 (2009 est.)
Nepal 18 million
note: severe lack of skilled labor (2009 est.)
Netherlands 8.33 million (2009 est.)
Netherlands Antilles 91,470 (2007)
New Caledonia 102,600 (2007)
New Zealand 2.29 million (2009 est.)
Nicaragua 2.383 million (2009 est.)
Niger 4.688 million (2007)
Nigeria 47.33 million (2009 est.)
Niue 663 (2001)
Norfolk Island 978
Northern Mariana Islands 38,450 total indigenous labor force; 28,717 foreign workers (2005 est.)
Norway 2.6 million (2009 est.)
Oman 968,800
note: about 60% of the labor force is non-national (2007)
Pakistan 55.88 million
note: extensive export of labor, mostly to the Middle East, and use of child labor (2009 est.)
Palau 9,777 (2005)
Panama 1.423 million
note: shortage of skilled labor, but an oversupply of unskilled labor (2009 est.)
Papua New Guinea 3.723 million (2009 est.)
Paraguay 2.981 million (2009 est.)
Peru 10.26 million (2009 est.)
Philippines 37.89 million (2009 est.)
Pitcairn Islands 15 able-bodied men (2004)
Poland 16.99 million (2009 est.)
Portugal 5.58 million (2009 est.)
Puerto Rico 1.479 million (2007)
Qatar 1.202 million (2009 est.)
Romania 9.33 million (2009 est.)
Russia 75.81 million (2009 est.)
Rwanda 4.446 million (2007)
Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan da Cunha 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 6.922 million
note: about 80% of the labor force is non-national (2009 est.)
Senegal 5.578 million (2009 est.)
Serbia 3.107 million (October 2009 est.)
Seychelles 39,560 (2006)
Sierra Leone 2.207 million (2007 est.)
Singapore 3.03 million (2009 est.)
Slovakia 2.365 million (2009 est.)
Slovenia 914,000 (2009 est.)
Solomon Islands 202,500 (2007)
Somalia 3.447 million (few skilled laborers) (2007)
South Africa 17.32 million economically active (2009 est.)
Spain 22.97 million (2009 est.)
Sri Lanka 8.1 million
note: excludes northern and eastern provinces (2009 est.)
Sudan 11.92 million (2007 est.)
Suriname 165,600 (2007)
Svalbard 1,234 in Norwegian settlements (2003)
Swaziland 457,900 (2007)
Sweden 4.93 million (2009 est.)
Switzerland 4.28 million (2009 est.)
Syria 5.772 million (2009 est.)
Taiwan 10.92 million (2009 est.)
Tajikistan 2.1 million (2009)
Tanzania 21.23 million (2009 est.)
Thailand 38.24 million (2009 est.)
Timor-Leste 414,200 (2007)
Togo 2.595 million (2007)
Tokelau 440 (2001)
Tonga 39,960 (2007)
Trinidad and Tobago 629,000 (2009 est.)
Tunisia 3.75 million (2009 est.)
Turkey 25.3 million
note: about 1.2 million Turks work abroad (2009 est.)
Turkmenistan 2.3 million (2008 est.)
Turks and Caicos Islands 4,848 (1990 est.)
Tuvalu 3,615 (2004 est.)
Uganda 15.01 million (2009 est.)
Ukraine 20.4 million (2009 est.)
United Arab Emirates 3.168 million
note: expatriates account for about 85% of the work force (2009 est.)
United Kingdom 31.25 million (2009 est.)
United States 154.1 million
note: includes unemployed (2009)
Uruguay 1.636 million (2009 est.)
Uzbekistan 15.65 million (2009 est.)
Vanuatu 115,900 (2007)
Venezuela 12.67 million (2009 est.)
Vietnam 43.87 million (April 2009 est.)
Virgin Islands 49,820 (2007 est.)
Wallis and Futuna 3,104 (2003)
West Bank 694,000 (2009)
Western Sahara 12,000 (2005 est.)
World 3.179 billion (2009 est.)
Yemen 6.641 million (2009 est.)
Zambia 5.398 million (2009 est.)
Zimbabwe 3.84 million (2009 est.)
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