Country leaderboard

Countries by Informal Employment Share

Complete ranking of 144 countries • % employed • Data refreshed May 28, 2026

Leader

Niger

Field size

144 countries

Lowest rank

Switzerland

Ready to play?

Think you can call the next one?

Use this Informal Employment Share briefing as a warm-up, then jump into a fast country round.

Play this metric

Metric Briefing World Map

Niger leads all 144 countries in Informal Employment Share with a value of 98.49% of employed people, while Switzerland ranks last at 1.09% of employed people. This represents a 90-fold difference between the highest and lowest values.

What Informal Employment Share Measures

Share of employed people whose main job is informal employment, from ILOSTAT.

Why This Ranking Matters

Examining Informal Employment Share across all countries reveals patterns that might not be obvious at the national level. Regional clusters, outlier nations, and historical trajectories all become clearer when the full global picture is assembled in a single ranking.

Global Range

Values range from 1.09% of employed people (Switzerland) to 98.49% of employed people (Niger) — a 90-fold difference across 144 countries.

Regional Patterns

African countries dominate this ranking, holding 18 of the top 20 positions. This strong regional concentration suggests shared economic, geographic, or policy factors that drive higher values across the continent.

Values are broadly distributed across countries, with the middle 50% ranging from 19.23% of employed people to 85% of employed people. The overall spread from 1.09% of employed people to 98.49% of employed people reflects significant global variation.

Notable Outliers

The top of the ranking is competitive: Niger and Burundi are separated by only 0%, indicating that the leading positions could shift with updated data. The bottom five countries are all from Europe, pointing to regional challenges that affect informal employment share across the continent.

Continental Leaders

Africa

Niger

98.49% of employed people

Oceania

Nauru

93.92% of employed people

North America

Haiti

91.61% of employed people

Asia

Laos

90.49% of employed people

South America

Bolivia

83.88% of employed people

Europe

Armenia

76.14% of employed people

Highest Informal Employment Share

The 5 strongest Informal Employment Share reads.

Niger98.49% of employed people Burundi98.04% of employed people Chad97.57% of employed people Congo, Democratic Republic97.34% of employed people Benin96.35% of employed people

Lowest Informal Employment Share

The 5 lowest Informal Employment Share reads.

Switzerland1.09% of employed people Iceland1.99% of employed people Finland2.00% of employed people Norway2.03% of employed people Romania2.43% of employed people

Data Note

Rankings are based on the latest available data from ILOSTAT, covering 144 of 249 countries and territories. Countries without data for this metric are excluded from the ranking. All values represent the most recently reported figures.

Top 10 Countries

1stNiger98.49% of employed people

2ndBurundi98.04% of employed people

3rdChad97.57% of employed people

4thCongo, Democratic Republic97.34% of employed people

5thBenin96.35% of employed people

6thMadagascar96.08% of employed people

7thMozambique95.51% of employed people

8thBurkina Faso95.09% of employed people

9thAngola95% of employed people

10thGuinea-Bissau94.77% of employed people

Country Ladder

Informal Employment Share ranking for 144 countries
				Percentile
1st	Niger	98.49% of employed people	Africa	100%
2nd	Burundi	98.04% of employed people	Africa	99%
3rd	Chad	97.57% of employed people	Africa	99%
4th	Congo, Democratic Republic	97.34% of employed people	Africa	98%
5th	Benin	96.35% of employed people	Africa	97%
6th	Madagascar	96.08% of employed people	Africa	97%
7th	Mozambique	95.51% of employed people	Africa	96%
8th	Burkina Faso	95.09% of employed people	Africa	95%
9th	Angola	95% of employed people	Africa	94%
10th	Guinea-Bissau	94.77% of employed people	Africa	94%
11th	Uganda	94.48% of employed people	Africa	93%
12th	Sierra Leone	94.47% of employed people	Africa	92%
13th	Sudan	94.22% of employed people	Africa	92%
14th	Nauru	93.92% of employed people	Oceania	91%
15th	Nigeria	93.14% of employed people	Africa	90%
16th	Mali	92.77% of employed people	Africa	90%
17th	Malawi	92.65% of employed people	Africa	89%
18th	Togo	92.34% of employed people	Africa	88%
19th	Côte d'Ivoire	92.13% of employed people	Africa	88%
20th	Haiti	91.61% of employed people	North America	87%
21st	Tanzania	90.78% of employed people	Africa	86%
22nd	Laos	90.49% of employed people	Asia	85%
23rd	Rwanda	90.06% of employed people	Africa	85%
24th	Cambodia	89.39% of employed people	Asia	84%
25th	Liberia	89.35% of employed people	Africa	83%
26th	Mauritania	89.31% of employed people	Africa	83%
27th	Senegal	89.22% of employed people	Africa	82%
28th	Lesotho	89.13% of employed people	Africa	81%
29th	Comoros	88.81% of employed people	Africa	81%
30th	Pakistan	88.69% of employed people	Asia	80%
31st	India	87.2% of employed people	Asia	79%
32nd	Cameroon	87.1% of employed people	Africa	78%
33rd	Kenya	86.49% of employed people	Africa	78%
34th	Afghanistan	86.13% of employed people	Asia	77%
35th	Congo	85.28% of employed people	Africa	76%
36th	Zimbabwe	85% of employed people	Africa	76%
37th	Bangladesh	84.04% of employed people	Asia	75%
38th	Gambia	83.88% of employed people	Africa	74%
39th	Bolivia	83.88% of employed people	South America	74%
40th	Zambia	82.73% of employed people	Africa	73%
41st	Honduras	82.61% of employed people	North America	72%
42nd	Somalia	81.94% of employed people	Africa	72%
43rd	Nicaragua	81.79% of employed people	North America	71%
44th	Nepal	81.52% of employed people	Asia	70%
45th	Indonesia	80.97% of employed people	Asia	69%
46th	Myanmar	80.71% of employed people	Asia	69%
47th	Timor-Leste	80.57% of employed people	Asia	68%
48th	Ghana	78.05% of employed people	Africa	67%
49th	Ethiopia	77.65% of employed people	Africa	67%
50th	Yemen	77.38% of employed people	Asia	66%
51st	Armenia	76.14% of employed people	Europe	65%
52nd	Guatemala	75.93% of employed people	North America	65%
53rd	Botswana	75.58% of employed people	Africa	64%
54th	Vanuatu	72.36% of employed people	Oceania	63%
55th	Peru	70.46% of employed people	South America	63%
56th	Egypt	68.61% of employed people	Africa	62%
57th	Ecuador	68.45% of employed people	South America	61%
58th	Iraq	67.64% of employed people	Asia	60%
59th	Vietnam	67.03% of employed people	Asia	60%
60th	Sri Lanka	66.35% of employed people	Asia	59%
61st	Paraguay	64.46% of employed people	South America	58%
62nd	El Salvador	63.95% of employed people	North America	58%
63rd	Tajikistan	63.63% of employed people	Asia	57%
64th	Thailand	63.17% of employed people	Asia	56%
65th	Barbados	61.77% of employed people	North America	56%
66th	Kiribati	61.52% of employed people	Oceania	55%
67th	Cabo Verde	60.59% of employed people	Africa	54%
68th	Tonga	59.21% of employed people	Oceania	53%
69th	Panama	58.69% of employed people	North America	53%
70th	Venezuela	58.31% of employed people	North America	52%
71st	Kyrgyzstan	57.55% of employed people	Asia	51%
72nd	Mexico	56.88% of employed people	North America	51%
73rd	Colombia	56.01% of employed people	North America	50%
74th	Namibia	55.64% of employed people	Africa	49%
75th	Lebanon	55.45% of employed people	Asia	49%
76th	Moldova	55.37% of employed people	Europe	48%
77th	Jamaica	54.64% of employed people	North America	47%
78th	Jordan	54.22% of employed people	Asia	47%
79th	Dominican Republic	53.5% of employed people	North America	46%
80th	Eswatini	53.3% of employed people	Africa	45%
81st	Argentina	51.58% of employed people	South America	44%
82nd	Samoa	51.52% of employed people	Oceania	44%
83rd	Georgia	51.46% of employed people	Europe	43%
84th	Guyana	50.97% of employed people	North America	42%
85th	Suriname	50.94% of employed people	North America	42%
86th	Palestine	48.8% of employed people	Asia	41%
87th	Grenada	48.05% of employed people	North America	40%
88th	Djibouti	47.62% of employed people	Africa	40%
89th	Maldives	47.33% of employed people	Asia	39%
90th	Fiji	45.7% of employed people	Oceania	38%
91st	Cook Islands	40.18% of employed people	Oceania	38%
92nd	Tunisia	36.9% of employed people	Africa	37%
93rd	Costa Rica	36.11% of employed people	North America	36%
94th	Wallis and Futuna	35.99% of employed people	Oceania	35%
95th	Brazil	35.62% of employed people	South America	35%
96th	South Africa	34.81% of employed people	Africa	34%
97th	Marshall Islands	32.58% of employed people	Oceania	33%
98th	Saint Lucia	29.21% of employed people	North America	33%
99th	South Korea	29.12% of employed people	Asia	32%
100th	Uruguay	28.54% of employed people	South America	31%
101st	Turkey	27.71% of employed people	Europe	31%
102nd	Mongolia	27.45% of employed people	Asia	30%
103rd	Chile	26.37% of employed people	South America	29%
104th	Mauritius	23.45% of employed people	Africa	28%
105th	Brunei	21.39% of employed people	Asia	28%
106th	Tuvalu	20.09% of employed people	Oceania	27%
107th	United Kingdom	19.81% of employed people	Europe	26%
108th	Russia	19.23% of employed people	Europe	26%
109th	Bahamas	18.25% of employed people	North America	25%
110th	Serbia	17.14% of employed people	Europe	24%
111st	Bosnia and Herzegovina	16.57% of employed people	Europe	24%
112nd	Poland	14.55% of employed people	Europe	23%
113rd	Seychelles	14.22% of employed people	Africa	22%
114th	Antigua and Barbuda	12.76% of employed people	North America	22%
115th	North Macedonia	11.96% of employed people	Europe	21%
116th	Italy	10.94% of employed people	Europe	20%
117th	Hungary	9.9% of employed people	Europe	19%
118th	Latvia	9.7% of employed people	Europe	19%
119th	Palau	7.3% of employed people	Oceania	18%
120th	Denmark	7.1% of employed people	Europe	17%
121st	Slovakia	6.3% of employed people	Europe	17%
122nd	Estonia	6.0% of employed people	Europe	16%
123rd	Luxembourg	6.0% of employed people	Europe	15%
124th	Lithuania	5.6% of employed people	Europe	15%
125th	Netherlands	5.4% of employed people	Europe	14%
126th	Portugal	5.3% of employed people	Europe	13%
127th	Croatia	5.3% of employed people	Europe	13%
128th	Slovenia	4.8% of employed people	Europe	12%
129th	Greece	4.3% of employed people	Europe	11%
130th	Bulgaria	4.1% of employed people	Europe	10%
131st	Germany	3.9% of employed people	Europe	10%
132nd	Ireland	3.9% of employed people	Europe	9%
133rd	Spain	3.8% of employed people	Europe	8%
134th	Czechia	3.8% of employed people	Europe	8%
135th	France	3.8% of employed people	Europe	7%
136th	Sweden	3.7% of employed people	Europe	6%
137th	Austria	3.4% of employed people	Europe	6%
138th	Belgium	3.3% of employed people	Europe	5%
139th	Cyprus	2.6% of employed people	Europe	4%
140th	Romania	2.4% of employed people	Europe	3%
141st	Norway	2.0% of employed people	Europe	3%
142nd	Finland	2.0% of employed people	Europe	2%
143rd	Iceland	2.0% of employed people	Europe	1%
144th	Switzerland	1.1% of employed people	Europe	1%

View World Map Metric Briefing Play this ranking

Country leaderboard

Countries by Informal Employment Share

Complete ranking of 144 countries • % employed • Data refreshed May 28, 2026

Leader

Niger

Field size

144 countries

Lowest rank

Switzerland

Ready to play?

Think you can call the next one?

Use this Informal Employment Share briefing as a warm-up, then jump into a fast country round.

Play this metric

Metric Briefing World Map

What Informal Employment Share Measures

Share of employed people whose main job is informal employment, from ILOSTAT.

Why This Ranking Matters

Global Range

Values range from 1.09% of employed people (Switzerland) to 98.49% of employed people (Niger) — a 90-fold difference across 144 countries.

Regional Patterns

Notable Outliers

Continental Leaders

Africa

Niger

98.49% of employed people

Oceania

Nauru

93.92% of employed people

North America

Haiti

91.61% of employed people

Asia

Laos

90.49% of employed people

South America

Bolivia

83.88% of employed people

Europe

Armenia

76.14% of employed people

Highest Informal Employment Share

The 5 strongest Informal Employment Share reads.

Niger98.49% of employed people Burundi98.04% of employed people Chad97.57% of employed people Congo, Democratic Republic97.34% of employed people Benin96.35% of employed people

Lowest Informal Employment Share

The 5 lowest Informal Employment Share reads.

Switzerland1.09% of employed people Iceland1.99% of employed people Finland2.00% of employed people Norway2.03% of employed people Romania2.43% of employed people

Data Note

Top 10 Countries

1stNiger98.49% of employed people

2ndBurundi98.04% of employed people

3rdChad97.57% of employed people

4thCongo, Democratic Republic97.34% of employed people

5thBenin96.35% of employed people

6thMadagascar96.08% of employed people

7thMozambique95.51% of employed people

8thBurkina Faso95.09% of employed people

9thAngola95% of employed people

10thGuinea-Bissau94.77% of employed people

Country Ladder

Informal Employment Share ranking for 144 countries
				Percentile
1st	Niger	98.49% of employed people	Africa	100%
2nd	Burundi	98.04% of employed people	Africa	99%
3rd	Chad	97.57% of employed people	Africa	99%
4th	Congo, Democratic Republic	97.34% of employed people	Africa	98%
5th	Benin	96.35% of employed people	Africa	97%
6th	Madagascar	96.08% of employed people	Africa	97%
7th	Mozambique	95.51% of employed people	Africa	96%
8th	Burkina Faso	95.09% of employed people	Africa	95%
9th	Angola	95% of employed people	Africa	94%
10th	Guinea-Bissau	94.77% of employed people	Africa	94%
11th	Uganda	94.48% of employed people	Africa	93%
12th	Sierra Leone	94.47% of employed people	Africa	92%
13th	Sudan	94.22% of employed people	Africa	92%
14th	Nauru	93.92% of employed people	Oceania	91%
15th	Nigeria	93.14% of employed people	Africa	90%
16th	Mali	92.77% of employed people	Africa	90%
17th	Malawi	92.65% of employed people	Africa	89%
18th	Togo	92.34% of employed people	Africa	88%
19th	Côte d'Ivoire	92.13% of employed people	Africa	88%
20th	Haiti	91.61% of employed people	North America	87%
21st	Tanzania	90.78% of employed people	Africa	86%
22nd	Laos	90.49% of employed people	Asia	85%
23rd	Rwanda	90.06% of employed people	Africa	85%
24th	Cambodia	89.39% of employed people	Asia	84%
25th	Liberia	89.35% of employed people	Africa	83%
26th	Mauritania	89.31% of employed people	Africa	83%
27th	Senegal	89.22% of employed people	Africa	82%
28th	Lesotho	89.13% of employed people	Africa	81%
29th	Comoros	88.81% of employed people	Africa	81%
30th	Pakistan	88.69% of employed people	Asia	80%
31st	India	87.2% of employed people	Asia	79%
32nd	Cameroon	87.1% of employed people	Africa	78%
33rd	Kenya	86.49% of employed people	Africa	78%
34th	Afghanistan	86.13% of employed people	Asia	77%
35th	Congo	85.28% of employed people	Africa	76%
36th	Zimbabwe	85% of employed people	Africa	76%
37th	Bangladesh	84.04% of employed people	Asia	75%
38th	Gambia	83.88% of employed people	Africa	74%
39th	Bolivia	83.88% of employed people	South America	74%
40th	Zambia	82.73% of employed people	Africa	73%
41st	Honduras	82.61% of employed people	North America	72%
42nd	Somalia	81.94% of employed people	Africa	72%
43rd	Nicaragua	81.79% of employed people	North America	71%
44th	Nepal	81.52% of employed people	Asia	70%
45th	Indonesia	80.97% of employed people	Asia	69%
46th	Myanmar	80.71% of employed people	Asia	69%
47th	Timor-Leste	80.57% of employed people	Asia	68%
48th	Ghana	78.05% of employed people	Africa	67%
49th	Ethiopia	77.65% of employed people	Africa	67%
50th	Yemen	77.38% of employed people	Asia	66%
51st	Armenia	76.14% of employed people	Europe	65%
52nd	Guatemala	75.93% of employed people	North America	65%
53rd	Botswana	75.58% of employed people	Africa	64%
54th	Vanuatu	72.36% of employed people	Oceania	63%
55th	Peru	70.46% of employed people	South America	63%
56th	Egypt	68.61% of employed people	Africa	62%
57th	Ecuador	68.45% of employed people	South America	61%
58th	Iraq	67.64% of employed people	Asia	60%
59th	Vietnam	67.03% of employed people	Asia	60%
60th	Sri Lanka	66.35% of employed people	Asia	59%
61st	Paraguay	64.46% of employed people	South America	58%
62nd	El Salvador	63.95% of employed people	North America	58%
63rd	Tajikistan	63.63% of employed people	Asia	57%
64th	Thailand	63.17% of employed people	Asia	56%
65th	Barbados	61.77% of employed people	North America	56%
66th	Kiribati	61.52% of employed people	Oceania	55%
67th	Cabo Verde	60.59% of employed people	Africa	54%
68th	Tonga	59.21% of employed people	Oceania	53%
69th	Panama	58.69% of employed people	North America	53%
70th	Venezuela	58.31% of employed people	North America	52%
71st	Kyrgyzstan	57.55% of employed people	Asia	51%
72nd	Mexico	56.88% of employed people	North America	51%
73rd	Colombia	56.01% of employed people	North America	50%
74th	Namibia	55.64% of employed people	Africa	49%
75th	Lebanon	55.45% of employed people	Asia	49%
76th	Moldova	55.37% of employed people	Europe	48%
77th	Jamaica	54.64% of employed people	North America	47%
78th	Jordan	54.22% of employed people	Asia	47%
79th	Dominican Republic	53.5% of employed people	North America	46%
80th	Eswatini	53.3% of employed people	Africa	45%
81st	Argentina	51.58% of employed people	South America	44%
82nd	Samoa	51.52% of employed people	Oceania	44%
83rd	Georgia	51.46% of employed people	Europe	43%
84th	Guyana	50.97% of employed people	North America	42%
85th	Suriname	50.94% of employed people	North America	42%
86th	Palestine	48.8% of employed people	Asia	41%
87th	Grenada	48.05% of employed people	North America	40%
88th	Djibouti	47.62% of employed people	Africa	40%
89th	Maldives	47.33% of employed people	Asia	39%
90th	Fiji	45.7% of employed people	Oceania	38%
91st	Cook Islands	40.18% of employed people	Oceania	38%
92nd	Tunisia	36.9% of employed people	Africa	37%
93rd	Costa Rica	36.11% of employed people	North America	36%
94th	Wallis and Futuna	35.99% of employed people	Oceania	35%
95th	Brazil	35.62% of employed people	South America	35%
96th	South Africa	34.81% of employed people	Africa	34%
97th	Marshall Islands	32.58% of employed people	Oceania	33%
98th	Saint Lucia	29.21% of employed people	North America	33%
99th	South Korea	29.12% of employed people	Asia	32%
100th	Uruguay	28.54% of employed people	South America	31%
101st	Turkey	27.71% of employed people	Europe	31%
102nd	Mongolia	27.45% of employed people	Asia	30%
103rd	Chile	26.37% of employed people	South America	29%
104th	Mauritius	23.45% of employed people	Africa	28%
105th	Brunei	21.39% of employed people	Asia	28%
106th	Tuvalu	20.09% of employed people	Oceania	27%
107th	United Kingdom	19.81% of employed people	Europe	26%
108th	Russia	19.23% of employed people	Europe	26%
109th	Bahamas	18.25% of employed people	North America	25%
110th	Serbia	17.14% of employed people	Europe	24%
111st	Bosnia and Herzegovina	16.57% of employed people	Europe	24%
112nd	Poland	14.55% of employed people	Europe	23%
113rd	Seychelles	14.22% of employed people	Africa	22%
114th	Antigua and Barbuda	12.76% of employed people	North America	22%
115th	North Macedonia	11.96% of employed people	Europe	21%
116th	Italy	10.94% of employed people	Europe	20%
117th	Hungary	9.9% of employed people	Europe	19%
118th	Latvia	9.7% of employed people	Europe	19%
119th	Palau	7.3% of employed people	Oceania	18%
120th	Denmark	7.1% of employed people	Europe	17%
121st	Slovakia	6.3% of employed people	Europe	17%
122nd	Estonia	6.0% of employed people	Europe	16%
123rd	Luxembourg	6.0% of employed people	Europe	15%
124th	Lithuania	5.6% of employed people	Europe	15%
125th	Netherlands	5.4% of employed people	Europe	14%
126th	Portugal	5.3% of employed people	Europe	13%
127th	Croatia	5.3% of employed people	Europe	13%
128th	Slovenia	4.8% of employed people	Europe	12%
129th	Greece	4.3% of employed people	Europe	11%
130th	Bulgaria	4.1% of employed people	Europe	10%
131st	Germany	3.9% of employed people	Europe	10%
132nd	Ireland	3.9% of employed people	Europe	9%
133rd	Spain	3.8% of employed people	Europe	8%
134th	Czechia	3.8% of employed people	Europe	8%
135th	France	3.8% of employed people	Europe	7%
136th	Sweden	3.7% of employed people	Europe	6%
137th	Austria	3.4% of employed people	Europe	6%
138th	Belgium	3.3% of employed people	Europe	5%
139th	Cyprus	2.6% of employed people	Europe	4%
140th	Romania	2.4% of employed people	Europe	3%
141st	Norway	2.0% of employed people	Europe	3%
142nd	Finland	2.0% of employed people	Europe	2%
143rd	Iceland	2.0% of employed people	Europe	1%
144th	Switzerland	1.1% of employed people	Europe	1%

View World Map Metric Briefing Play this ranking

Countries by Informal Employment Share

Think you can call the next one?

About Informal Employment Share Rankings

What Informal Employment Share Measures

Why This Ranking Matters

Global Range

Regional Patterns

Notable Outliers

Continental Leaders

Highest Informal Employment Share

Lowest Informal Employment Share

Data Note

Top 10 Countries

Country Ladder

TerraBrawl plays best upright.

Countries by Informal Employment Share

Think you can call the next one?

About Informal Employment Share Rankings

What Informal Employment Share Measures

Why This Ranking Matters

Global Range

Regional Patterns

Notable Outliers

Continental Leaders

Highest Informal Employment Share

Lowest Informal Employment Share

Data Note

Top 10 Countries

Country Ladder