Maps

Mapped: The Countries Where the Most Women Work in 2025

Published

2 weeks ago

March 8, 2025

Pallavi Rao

Graphics/Design:

Anna Diederichs

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

Mapped: The Countries Where the Most Women Work in 2025

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Key Takeaways

Women are more likely to work in very poor or very rich countries, but less so in middle-income ones
For example, Madagascar (low income) and Iceland (high income) both have the same rate of women workforce participation (84%)
On the other hand, Nepal (middle income) only has around 30% of working-age women actively employed or looking for work

Where do women work the most, why is this an important measure to track, and what can it tell us about a country?

We map out relevant data to answer these questions, sourced from 2025 estimates made by the International Labour Organization.

It shows the share of working-age women (15–64) who are employed or looking for work in each country, also known as the labor force participation rate.

Ranked: Where Women Participate Most in the Workforce

As a general trend: women’s workforce participation spikes in either very poor countries, or very rich ones.

For example, the highest rates can be seen in North Korea and Madagascar (84–87%), and Iceland and the Netherlands (82–84%).

Per current World Bank classification, the former are low-income countries, and the latter are high-income countries.

Rank	Country	ISO Code	Women Workforce Participation Rate (%)
1	🇰🇵 North Korea	PRK	87
2	🇸🇧 Solomon Islands	SLB	84
3	🇲🇬 Madagascar	MDG	84
4	🇮🇸 Iceland	ISL	84
5	🇳🇱 Netherlands	NLD	82
6	🇸🇪 Sweden	SWE	82
7	🇳🇬 Nigeria	NGA	82
8	🇹🇿 Tanzania	TZA	82
9	🇧🇮 Burundi	BDI	81
10	🇪🇪 Estonia	EST	81
11	🇨🇭 Switzerland	CHE	80
12	🇳🇿 New Zealand	NZL	80
13	🇫🇮 Finland	FIN	80
14	🇰🇭 Cambodia	KHM	79
15	🇩🇰 Denmark	DNK	79
16	🇲🇿 Mozambique	MOZ	78
17	🇳🇴 Norway	NOR	78
18	🇺🇬 Uganda	UGA	78
19	🇨🇦 Canada	CAN	78
20	🇱🇹 Lithuania	LTU	78
21	🇦🇺 Australia	AUS	77
22	🇯🇵 Japan	JPN	77
23	🇧🇾 Belarus	BLR	76
24	🇩🇪 Germany	DEU	76
25	🇰🇿 Kazakhstan	KAZ	76
26	🇵🇹 Portugal	PRT	76
27	🇧🇯 Benin	BEN	76
28	🇨🇾 Cyprus	CYP	76
29	🇧🇸 Bahamas	BHS	76
30	🇪🇷 Eritrea	ERI	75
31	🇻🇳 Vietnam	VNM	75
32	🇧🇴 Bolivia	BOL	75
33	🇱🇻 Latvia	LVA	74
34	🇦🇹 Austria	AUT	74
35	🇧🇧 Barbados	BRB	74
36	🇦🇴 Angola	AGO	74
37	🇲🇹 Malta	MLT	74
38	🇭🇺 Hungary	HUN	74
39	🇬🇧 UK	GBR	74
40	🇮🇪 Ireland	IRL	74
41	🇱🇷 Liberia	LBR	73
42	🇸🇮 Slovenia	SVN	73
43	🇲🇩 Moldova	MDA	73
44	🇸🇰 Slovakia	SVK	73
45	🇮🇱 Israel	ISR	73
46	🇺🇾 Uruguay	URY	71
47	🇸🇬 Singapore	SGP	71
48	🇫🇷 France	FRA	71
49	🇷🇺 Russia	RUS	71
50	🇨🇿 Czechia	CZE	71
51	🇱🇺 Luxembourg	LUX	71
52	🇱🇨 Saint Lucia	LCA	71
53	🇪🇸 Spain	ESP	71
54	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	BGR	70
55	🇵🇪 Peru	PER	70
56	🇨🇳 China	CHN	69
57	🇵🇱 Poland	POL	69
58	🇺🇸 U.S.	USA	69
59	🇦🇲 Armenia	ARM	69
60	🇹🇭 Thailand	THA	68
61	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	AZE	68
62	🇲🇴 Macao	MAC	68
63	🇧🇼 Botswana	BWA	67
64	🇨🇬 Congo	COG	67
65	🇧🇪 Belgium	BEL	67
66	🇹🇼 Taiwan	TWN	67
67	🇯🇲 Jamaica	JAM	67
68	🇭🇷 Croatia	HRV	67
69	🇬🇺 Guam	GUM	67
70	🇷🇸 Serbia	SRB	66
71	🇨🇫 Central African Republic	CAF	66
72	🇭🇰 Hong Kong	HKG	66
73	🇯🇪 Channel Islands	CHI	65
74	🇦🇱 Albania	ALB	65
75	🇶🇦 Qatar	QAT	65
76	🇻🇨 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	VCT	65
77	🇻🇮 U.S. Virgin Islands	VIR	65
78	🇱🇦 Laos	LAO	65
79	🇰🇷 South Korea	KOR	64
80	🇲🇼 Malawi	MWI	64
81	🇨🇩 DRC	COD	63
82	🇬🇭 Ghana	GHA	63
83	🇵🇾 Paraguay	PRY	63
84	🇰🇪 Kenya	KEN	63
85	🇦🇷 Argentina	ARG	62
86	🇬🇷 Greece	GRC	62
87	🇭🇹 Haiti	HTI	62
88	🇬🇪 Georgia	GEO	61
89	🇨🇱 Chile	CHL	61
90	🇹🇱 Timor-Leste	TLS	61
91	🇧🇷 Brazil	BRA	61
92	🇳🇪 Niger	NER	61
93	🇿🇼 Zimbabwe	ZWE	61
94	🇷🇼 Rwanda	RWA	60
95	🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire	CIV	60
96	🇳🇨 New Caledonia	NCL	60
97	🇲🇱 Mali	MLI	60
98	🇧🇹 Bhutan	BTN	59
99	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	ETH	59
100	🇹🇹 Trinidad & Tobago	TTO	59
101	🇩🇴 Dominican Republic	DOM	59
102	🇵🇦 Panama	PAN	59
103	🇧🇳 Brunei Darussalam	BRN	58
104	🇮🇹 Italy	ITA	58
105	🇿🇦 South Africa	ZAF	58
106	🇨🇴 Colombia	COL	58
107	🇹🇬 Togo	TGO	57
108	🇷🇴 Romania	ROU	57
109	🇳🇦 Namibia	NAM	57
110	🇲🇳 Mongolia	MNG	57
111	🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan	KGZ	57
112	🇨🇲 Cameroon	CMR	57
113	🇲🇾 Malaysia	MYS	57
114	🇦🇪 UAE	ARE	56
115	🇨🇻 Cabo Verde	CPV	56
116	🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau	GNB	56
117	🇪🇨 Ecuador	ECU	56
118	🇻🇺 Vanuatu	VUT	56
119	🇮🇩 Indonesia	IDN	55
120	🇲🇰 North Macedonia	MKD	54
121	🇿🇲 Zambia	ZMB	54
122	🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea	GNQ	54
123	🇲🇪 Montenegro	MNE	53
124	🇳🇮 Nicaragua	NIC	53
125	🇹🇲 Turkmenistan	TKM	53
126	🇵🇫 French Polynesia	PYF	53
127	🇧🇦 Bosnia & Herzegovina	BIH	53
128	🇸🇱 Sierra Leone	SLE	52
129	🇧🇿 Belize	BLZ	52
130	🇲🇽 Mexico	MEX	52
131	🇵🇭 Philippines	PHL	52
132	🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea	PNG	51
133	🇲🇺 Mauritius	MUS	51
134	🇸🇻 El Salvador	SLV	51
135	🇰🇼 Kuwait	KWT	51
136	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	CRI	51
137	🇱🇸 Lesotho	LSO	51
138	🇸🇷 Suriname	SUR	51
139	🇨🇺 Cuba	CUB	49
140	🇹🇩 Chad	TCD	49
141	🇸🇿 Eswatini	SWZ	48
142	🇧🇩 Bangladesh	BGD	48
143	🇬🇲 Gambia	GMB	47
144	🇧🇭 Bahrain	BHR	45
145	🇲🇲 Myanmar	MMR	45
146	🇵🇷 Puerto Rico	PRI	45
147	🇹🇴 Tonga	TON	44
148	🇬🇾 Guyana	GUY	44
149	🇰🇲 Comoros	COM	44
150	🇺🇿 Uzbekistan	UZB	44
151	🇲🇻 Maldives	MDV	43
152	🇬🇦 Gabon	GAB	43
153	🇬🇳 Guinea	GIN	43
154	🇹🇷 Türkiye	TUR	42
155	🇬🇹 Guatemala	GTM	42
156	🇧🇫 Burkina Faso	BFA	42
157	🇻🇪 Venezuela	VEN	42
158	🇭🇳 Honduras	HND	41
159	🇫🇯 Fiji	FJI	41
160	🇸🇳 Senegal	SEN	38
161	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	SAU	36
162	🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	LKA	36
163	🇮🇳 India	IND	35
164	🇱🇾 Libya	LBY	35
165	🇹🇯 Tajikistan	TJK	33
166	🇪🇭 Western Sahara	ESH	33
167	🇼🇸 Samoa	WSM	33
168	🇴🇲 Oman	OMN	32
169	🇹🇳 Tunisia	TUN	30
170	🇳🇵 Nepal	NPL	30
171	🇲🇷 Mauritania	MRT	27
172	🇵🇰 Pakistan	PAK	26
173	🇸🇹 Sao Tome and Principe	STP	23
174	🇸🇴 Somalia	SOM	22
175	🇲🇦 Morocco	MAR	21
176	🇩🇯 Djibouti	DJI	20
177	🇪🇬 Egypt	EGY	16
178	🇩🇿 Algeria	DZA	15
179	🇯🇴 Jordan	JOR	15
180	🇮🇷 Iran	IRN	15
181	🇸🇾 Syria	SYR	14
182	🇮🇶 Iraq	IRQ	11
183	🇦🇫 Afghanistan	AFG	5
184	🇾🇪 Yemen	YEM	5
N/A	🌍 World	WRLD	55

Meanwhile, many middle income countries (India, Nepal) only have one-third of eligible working age women actively employed or looking for work.

This trend solidifies when looking at middle income countries where culturally, women are expected to place familial duties above outside professional or personal ones (Egypt, 16%).

Economic Development and Women Working

In low-income countries, women often work in subsistence agriculture, where labor is crucial for survival.

Then, in middle income countries, labor moves away from survival and towards industry. Here, societal norms may discourage women from working.

But coming around, in high-income countries, education, childcare services, and a services-based economy broaden opportunities for women to work.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

Part of Europe’s higher women workforce participation rate is the effect it has on children being born, as the opportunity cost of not working rises. Check out creator Arcioman’s Mapped: When Does a Woman Have Her First Child to see correlations.