Female labour force participation in Asia

48 countries in Asia, 2025. Unit: % of women 15+. World ranking →

First in the ranking
77.7 %
North Korea
Median country
51.3 %
half above, half below
World
48.9 %
World Bank aggregate
Range
4.7 to 77.7
Yemen - North Korea

How to read it

Across 48 countries in Asia, the highest value is in North Korea (77.7 %) and the lowest in Yemen (4.7 %).

The median country is at 51.3 %: half are above, half below.

The labor force participation rate is the labor force as a percent of the population ages 15 and older. The labor force is the sum of all persons of working age who are employed and those who are unemployed.

Compare selected countries · on the world map

Source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO), uri: https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/bulk/, publisher: ILOSTAT, type: external… · via World Bank WDI (SL.TLF.CACT.FE.ZS) · licence

Women in the labour force over time

%

Add to chart:

Ranking of countries

2025
In chart Share of the highest value
1North Korea77.7
2Cambodia77.4
3Vietnam68.6
4Singapore63.6
5Macao63.1
6Kazakhstan62.6
7Israel62.3
8Qatar61.9
9Timor-Leste61.7
10Laos61.6
11Cyprus61.2
12Azerbaijan60.8
13China59.1
14Thailand59.0
15South Korea56.8
16Bhutan56.7
17Georgia56.7
18Japan55.9
19Brunei54.4
20Indonesia53.7
21United Arab Emirates53.0
22Hong Kong51.8
23Malaysia51.6
24Mongolia51.5
25Armenia51.1
26Philippines50.5
27Kuwait47.2
28Kyrgyzstan44.1
29Bahrain42.3
30Uzbekistan41.2
31Myanmar40.9
32Maldives40.7
33Bangladesh38.6
34Turkmenistan38.2
35Türkiye37.1
36Saudi Arabia33.6
37India32.4
38Sri Lanka31.0
39Oman30.0
40Nepal27.5
41Pakistan24.0
42Tajikistan21.9
43Jordan16.0
44Iran14.0
45Syria12.7
46Iraq10.9
47Afghanistan5.1
48Yemen4.7
World Bank, WDI · SL.TLF.CACT.FE.ZS · 2025 · CC BY 4.0 Source and licence

Tick a country in the table to add it to the chart above, up to six at a time. The ranking uses the latest year for which at least half of the countries have a value; countries without a value that year are not listed.