Informal employment
Tier A· OfficialShare of total employment that is informal — work without legal or social protection. Most of the labour market in much of the developing world.
100 = lowest informal employment (best), 0 = highest
Mixed reference years (2009–2026). This metric uses each country's most recent available year, so countries are not all measured in the same year — cross-country comparison is weakened. Each row shows its own reference year.
How this score is built
Informal employment as a share of total employment (persons aged 15+, total economy) — ILOSTAT indicator EMP_NIFL_SEX_AGE_ECO_RT_A via the ILO rplumber API, filtered server-side to the total slice (CC BY 4.0). Direction is higher_worse (informal work lacks legal and social protection); normalized with min–max and inverted, so 100 = lowest informality. In much of the developing world informal employment is the *majority* of the labour market. The reference year varies by country.
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0100No data
100 = lowest informal employment (best), 0 = highest
Full ranking
145 countries with data. Rank 1 = best. Click a column to sort; click a country for its full provenance.
| Rank ↑ | Country | Score | Raw value |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | SwitzerlandCHE | 100100 | 1.093 % of employment |
| 2nd | IcelandISL | 99.0899 | 1.985 % of employment |
| 3rd | FinlandFIN | 99.0799 | 2.001 % of employment |
| 4th | NorwayNOR | 99.0499 | 2.027 % of employment |
| 5th | RomaniaROU | 98.6399 | 2.431 % of employment |
| 6th | CyprusCYP | 98.4198 | 2.645 % of employment |
| 7th | BelgiumBEL | 97.7798 | 3.266 % of employment |
| 8th | AustriaAUT | 97.6598 | 3.38 % of employment |
| 9th | SwedenSWE | 97.2997 | 3.737 % of employment |
| 10th | FranceFRA | 97.2597 | 3.776 % of employment |
| 11th | CzechiaCZE | 97.2297 | 3.798 % of employment |
| 12th | SpainESP | 97.1797 | 3.846 % of employment |
| 13th | IrelandIRL | 97.1297 | 3.894 % of employment |
| 14th | GermanyDEU | 97.0797 | 3.949 % of employment |
| 15th | BulgariaBGR | 96.8797 | 4.146 % of employment |
| 16th | GreeceGRC | 96.6797 | 4.335 % of employment |
| 17th | SloveniaSVN | 96.1796 | 4.823 % of employment |
| 18th | CroatiaHRV | 95.6796 | 5.307 % of employment |
| 19th | PortugalPRT | 95.6696 | 5.318 % of employment |
| 20th | NetherlandsNLD | 95.5596 | 5.423 % of employment |
| 21st | LithuaniaLTU | 95.3595 | 5.62 % of employment |
| 22nd | LuxembourgLUX | 94.9995 | 5.97 % of employment |
| 23rd | EstoniaEST | 94.9895 | 5.984 % of employment |
| 24th | SlovakiaSVK | 94.6195 | 6.342 % of employment |
| 25th | DenmarkDNK | 93.8694 | 7.072 % of employment |
| 26th | PalauPLW | 93.6694 | 7.265 % of employment |
| 27th | SeychellesSYC | 91.9792 | 8.911 % of employment |
| 28th | LatviaLVA | 91.2191 | 9.653 % of employment |
| 29th | HungaryHUN | 9191 | 9.858 % of employment |
| 30th | ItalyITA | 89.8990 | 10.937 % of employment |
| 31st | North MacedoniaMKD | 88.8489 | 11.961 % of employment |
| 32nd | Antigua and BarbudaATG | 88.0288 | 12.762 % of employment |
| 33rd | PolandPOL | 86.1886 | 14.549 % of employment |
| 34th | Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIH | 84.1184 | 16.567 % of employment |
| 35th | SerbiaSRB | 83.5284 | 17.14 % of employment |
| 36th | BahamasBHS | 82.3882 | 18.252 % of employment |
| 37th | RussiaRUS | 81.3881 | 19.226 % of employment |
| 38th | United KingdomGBR | 80.7881 | 19.81 % of employment |
| 39th | TuvaluTUV | 80.4980 | 20.095 % of employment |
| 40th | BruneiBRN | 79.1679 | 21.392 % of employment |
| 41st | MauritiusMUS | 77.0477 | 23.451 % of employment |
| 42nd | ChileCHL | 74.0574 | 26.368 % of employment |
| 43rd | TürkiyeTUR | 73.8274 | 26.591 % of employment |
| 44th | South KoreaKOR | 71.2271 | 29.122 % of employment |
| 45th | Saint LuciaLCA | 71.1371 | 29.212 % of employment |
| 46th | Marshall IslandsMHL | 67.6868 | 32.575 % of employment |
| 47th | UruguayURY | 67.5568 | 32.695 % of employment |
| 48th | South AfricaZAF | 65.3865 | 34.815 % of employment |
| 49th | BrazilBRA | 64.5665 | 35.615 % of employment |
| 50th | Wallis and FutunaWLF | 64.1764 | 35.992 % of employment |
| 51st | Costa RicaCRI | 64.0564 | 36.11 % of employment |
| 52nd | TunisiaTUN | 63.2463 | 36.899 % of employment |
| 53rd | MongoliaMNG | 62.8963 | 37.24 % of employment |
| 54th | Cook IslandsCOK | 59.8760 | 40.178 % of employment |
| 55th | FijiFJI | 54.254 | 45.702 % of employment |
| 56th | MaldivesMDV | 52.5353 | 47.329 % of employment |
| 57th | DjiboutiDJI | 52.2352 | 47.616 % of employment |
| 58th | GrenadaGRD | 51.7952 | 48.048 % of employment |
| 59th | PalestinePSE | 51.0251 | 48.801 % of employment |
| 60th | SurinameSUR | 48.8249 | 50.939 % of employment |
| 61st | GuyanaGUY | 48.549 | 51.248 % of employment |
| 62nd | GeorgiaGEO | 48.2948 | 51.46 % of employment |
| 63rd | SamoaWSM | 48.2348 | 51.515 % of employment |
| 64th | ArgentinaARG | 46.8947 | 52.818 % of employment |
| 65th | EswatiniSWZ | 46.446 | 53.297 % of employment |
| 66th | Dominican RepublicDOM | 46.1946 | 53.504 % of employment |
| 67th | JordanJOR | 45.4545 | 54.223 % of employment |
| 68th | JamaicaJAM | 45.0245 | 54.64 % of employment |
| 69th | MoldovaMDA | 44.2744 | 55.368 % of employment |
| 70th | LebanonLBN | 44.1944 | 55.448 % of employment |
| 71st | NamibiaNAM | 4444 | 55.637 % of employment |
| 72nd | PanamaPAN | 43.944 | 55.729 % of employment |
| 73rd | ColombiaCOL | 43.6144 | 56.012 % of employment |
| 74th | MexicoMEX | 42.9343 | 56.676 % of employment |
| 75th | KyrgyzstanKGZ | 42.0442 | 57.548 % of employment |
| 76th | VenezuelaVEN | 41.2541 | 58.31 % of employment |
| 77th | TongaTON | 40.3340 | 59.206 % of employment |
| 78th | Cape VerdeCPV | 38.9239 | 60.587 % of employment |
| 79th | KiribatiKIR | 37.9538 | 61.523 % of employment |
| 80th | BarbadosBRB | 37.738 | 61.775 % of employment |
| 81st | ThailandTHA | 36.2736 | 63.168 % of employment |
| 82nd | TajikistanTJK | 35.7936 | 63.63 % of employment |
| 83rd | El SalvadorSLV | 35.4735 | 63.946 % of employment |
| 84th | ParaguayPRY | 34.9435 | 64.463 % of employment |
| 85th | Sri LankaLKA | 32.9933 | 66.354 % of employment |
| 86th | VietnamVNM | 32.332 | 67.032 % of employment |
| 87th | IraqIRQ | 31.6832 | 67.639 % of employment |
| 88th | EcuadorECU | 30.8431 | 68.45 % of employment |
| 89th | EgyptEGY | 30.6831 | 68.613 % of employment |
| 90th | PeruPER | 28.7829 | 70.463 % of employment |
| 91st | VanuatuVUT | 28.3928 | 70.841 % of employment |
| 92nd | BotswanaBWA | 23.5224 | 75.582 % of employment |
| 93rd | GuatemalaGTM | 23.1623 | 75.932 % of employment |
| 94th | ArmeniaARM | 22.9423 | 76.143 % of employment |
| 95th | YemenYEM | 21.6822 | 77.376 % of employment |
| 96th | EthiopiaETH | 21.3921 | 77.654 % of employment |
| 97th | GhanaGHA | 20.9921 | 78.051 % of employment |
| 98th | Timor-LesteTLS | 18.418 | 80.572 % of employment |
| 99th | MyanmarMMR | 18.2618 | 80.71 % of employment |
| 100th | IndonesiaIDN | 17.9818 | 80.975 % of employment |
| 101st | NepalNPL | 17.4217 | 81.524 % of employment |
| 102nd | NicaraguaNIC | 17.1517 | 81.787 % of employment |
| 103rd | SomaliaSOM | 1717 | 81.935 % of employment |
| 104th | HondurasHND | 16.316 | 82.612 % of employment |
| 105th | ZambiaZMB | 16.1816 | 82.732 % of employment |
| 106th | BoliviaBOL | 15.0115 | 83.875 % of employment |
| 107th | BangladeshBGD | 14.8415 | 84.037 % of employment |
| 108th | GambiaGMB | 14.8215 | 84.055 % of employment |
| 109th | ZimbabweZWE | 13.8514 | 85.003 % of employment |
| 110th | CongoCOG | 13.5714 | 85.278 % of employment |
| 111th | GabonGAB | 12.7713 | 86.054 % of employment |
| 112th | AfghanistanAFG | 12.6913 | 86.135 % of employment |
| 113th | KenyaKEN | 12.3212 | 86.489 % of employment |
| 114th | CameroonCMR | 11.712 | 87.099 % of employment |
| 115th | IndiaIND | 11.5912 | 87.197 % of employment |
| 116th | PakistanPAK | 10.0710 | 88.685 % of employment |
| 117th | ComorosCOM | 9.9410 | 88.809 % of employment |
| 118th | LesothoLSO | 9.6110 | 89.134 % of employment |
| 119th | SenegalSEN | 9.5210 | 89.215 % of employment |
| 120th | MauritaniaMRT | 9.439 | 89.31 % of employment |
| 121st | LiberiaLBR | 9.389 | 89.351 % of employment |
| 122nd | CambodiaKHM | 9.349 | 89.392 % of employment |
| 123rd | RwandaRWA | 8.669 | 90.055 % of employment |
| 124th | LaosLAO | 8.218 | 90.489 % of employment |
| 125th | TanzaniaTZA | 7.928 | 90.777 % of employment |
| 126th | HaitiHTI | 7.077 | 91.607 % of employment |
| 127th | Ivory CoastCIV | 6.547 | 92.125 % of employment |
| 128th | TogoTGO | 6.316 | 92.343 % of employment |
| 129th | MalawiMWI | 66 | 92.649 % of employment |
| 130th | MaliMLI | 5.876 | 92.768 % of employment |
| 131st | NigeriaNGA | 5.495 | 93.145 % of employment |
| 132nd | NauruNRU | 4.695 | 93.921 % of employment |
| 133rd | SudanSDN | 4.414 | 94.194 % of employment |
| 134th | Sierra LeoneSLE | 4.134 | 94.47 % of employment |
| 135th | UgandaUGA | 4.124 | 94.479 % of employment |
| 136th | AngolaAGO | 4.114 | 94.488 % of employment |
| 137th | Guinea-BissauGNB | 3.824 | 94.774 % of employment |
| 138th | Burkina FasoBFA | 3.493 | 95.093 % of employment |
| 139th | MozambiqueMOZ | 3.063 | 95.511 % of employment |
| 140th | MadagascarMDG | 2.472 | 96.081 % of employment |
| 141st | BeninBEN | 2.22 | 96.347 % of employment |
| 142nd | DR CongoCOD | 1.181 | 97.344 % of employment |
| 143rd | ChadTCD | 0.941 | 97.57 % of employment |
| 144th | BurundiBDI | 0.460 | 98.044 % of employment |
| 145th | NigerNER | 00 | 98.49 % of employment |