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Labor force (number of people) over time (1990–2025)

Follow labor force (number of people) for the world’s countries, year by year, from 1990 to 2025.

Japan and the leading countries

Labor force (number of people): Japan and the top 5 countries in 2025From 1990 to 2025. Last values: China 768M, India 618M, United States 175M, Indonesia 147M, Nigeria 117M, Japan 69.5M.0200M400M600M800M1990200020102025ChinaChinaIndiaIndiaUnited StatesUnited StatesIndonesiaIndonesiaNigeriaNigeriaJapanJapan
Key years for Japan and the leading countries in 2025
Country19902000201020202025
China640M707M774M761M768M
India308M410M468M533M618M
United States128M147M158M167M175M
Indonesia78.1M101M118M137M147M
Nigeria43.4M59.3M75.3M97M117M
Japan64.2M67.8M66.1M68.7M69.5M
Countries with data178178178178174

Biggest changes, 1990–2025

Compared among the countries that have data in both 1990 and 2025. Countries with a very small starting value are left out, because their ratios look exaggerated.

Biggest increases
Country19902025ChangeRank
Qatar269K2.2Mabout 8.2×#154 → #121
United Arab Emirates994K7.6Mabout 7.6×#129 → #67
Saudi Arabia3.12M18.4Mabout 5.9×#80 → #36
Oman561K2.84Mabout 5.1×#141 → #112
Equatorial Guinea167K738Kabout 4.4×#159 → #147
Biggest decreases
Country19902025ChangeRank
Bosnia & Herzegovina1.83M1.34Mdown about 27%#104 → #132
Georgia2.71M2.01Mdown about 26%#85 → #123
Latvia1.27M948Kdown about 25%#119 → #138
Croatia2.21M1.74Mdown about 21%#96 → #126
Lithuania1.91M1.55Mdown about 19%#102 → #128

The number of countries differs between the years, so the ranks are not directly comparable.

All countries in key years

Open the table (countries with data)
Key years for Japan and the leading countries in 2025
Country19902000201020202025
China640M707M774M761M768M
India308M410M468M533M618M
United States128M147M158M167M175M
Indonesia78.1M101M118M137M147M
Nigeria43.4M59.3M75.3M97M117M
Brazil62.2M80.3M96.5M100M108M
Pakistan32.1M44.3M61.6M75.3M85.2M
Bangladesh36.3M49M58.8M70.3M74.7M
Russia76.9M73.6M75.9M73.4M72.8M
Japan64.2M67.8M66.1M68.7M69.5M
Mexico29.3M38.6M48.2M53M61.7M
Vietnam31.5M38.8M50.3M55.1M57M
Ethiopia20.9M28.9M40.1M49.1M56.8M
Philippines22.4M29.7M38.1M42.5M52.2M
Germany38.8M40.2M41.9M43.4M43.5M
Thailand28.8M35M39.2M40.3M40.9M
Democratic Republic of the Congo14.7M19.9M25.1M32.9M39.2M
Türkiye20.4M22.8M26.5M31.8M36.9M
Egypt16.1M21.3M29.1M30.3M36.1M
United Kingdom28.9M29.3M31.9M34.3M35.4M
Tanzania12.1M16.4M21.1M28.6M34.1M
France25.9M27.3M29.8M30.3M31.9M
South Korea18.9M22.6M25M28.4M29.9M
Iran15.4M19.5M25.1M27.7M29.5M
Colombia13.9M17.8M21.8M25.2M27.1M
South Africa14.7M17.6M19.3M22.3M26.7M
Italy23.7M23.3M24.7M25M25.7M
Spain15.5M18.3M23.5M22.9M24.8M
Kenya8.49M12M17.3M21.3M24.7M
Uganda6.67M8.91M12M19M23.4M
Myanmar17.3M20.8M23M23.9M22.9M
Canada14.7M16.2M18.9M20.5M22.8M
Argentina13.5M16.7M18.5M19.3M22.4M
Peru7.88M11.4M16.3M16.9M19.2M
Malaysia6.3M9M12.7M16.9M18.7M
Saudi Arabia3.12M4.89M8.92M14.7M18.4M
Poland17.5M17.1M18.1M18.2M18.2M
North Korea12.6M14.5M16.1M17.1M17.7M
Madagascar5.62M7.78M10.7M14.6M17.1M
Angola4.92M6.81M9.87M13.5M16.3M
Mozambique5.98M8.47M10.3M13.2M15.7M
Australia8.5M9.54M11.7M13.6M15.1M
Uzbekistan6.91M8.93M11.2M13.1M14.6M
Algeria6.72M9.07M11.4M11.6M13.6M
Ghana6.16M8.22M11.1M12.3M13.3M
Côte d’Ivoire4.18M6.25M8.43M10.8M13.1M
Morocco7.47M9.62M11.4M11.9M12.6M
Iraq4.09M5.79M7.53M10.4M12.5M
Niger3.48M4.79M6.66M9.14M12M
Cameroon5.02M6.73M8.44M9.93M11.5M
Venezuela7.86M10.4M12.9M9.89M11.1M
Cambodia3.32M5.76M8.2M9.48M10.4M
Netherlands8.1M8.77M9.11M9.79M10.3M
Chile4.96M6.34M8.14M8.91M10.3M
Kazakhstan8.19M7.96M8.91M9.54M10M
Burkina Faso4.08M5.23M7.03M9.04M9.91M
Afghanistan2.97M4.68M6.82M9.06M9.43M
Mali3.43M4.34M5.94M7.54M9.16M
Ecuador4.04M5.2M6.49M7.75M8.98M
Nepal4.74M6M7.16M7.98M8.36M
Malawi4.2M4.92M5.96M7.58M8.32M
Sri Lanka6.78M7.83M8.3M8.49M8.26M
Romania8.91M9.33M8.57M8.4M8.24M
Yemen3.01M4.52M6M6.88M8.16M
Zambia2.4M3.1M4.43M6.57M8.01M
Guatemala3.27M4.39M5.32M6.75M7.68M
United Arab Emirates994K2.06M4.38M6.18M7.6M
Bolivia2.94M3.74M4.57M5.89M6.98M
Zimbabwe3.59M4.54M5.02M5.81M6.85M
Syria3.43M4.92M6.13M4.94M6.76M
Chad2.28M3.01M4.05M5.32M6.75M
Benin2.05M2.83M3.95M5.61M6.64M
Burundi2.58M2.77M4.04M5.26M6.31M
Senegal2.11M2.81M3.48M5.08M6.13M
Rwanda2.36M2.73M3.62M4.98M5.84M
Sweden4.71M4.49M4.94M5.46M5.7M
Czechia5M5.18M5.23M5.34M5.58M
Dominican Republic2.48M3.25M3.85M4.81M5.51M
Portugal4.74M5.23M5.49M5.14M5.49M
Belgium3.94M4.41M4.9M5.12M5.46M
Haiti2.66M3.1M4.1M4.94M5.27M
Switzerland3.6M3.99M4.45M4.99M5.17M
Azerbaijan3.3M4.31M4.28M5.2M5.11M
Hungary4.27M4.34M4.43M4.83M4.94M
Cuba4.29M4.7M5.1M4.94M4.86M
Israel1.88M2.77M3.47M4.2M4.83M
Belarus4.65M4.82M5.07M4.98M4.8M
Austria3.52M3.88M4.27M4.61M4.75M
Guinea2.33M2.98M3.41M4.05M4.72M
Greece4.15M4.68M5.02M4.6M4.72M
Honduras1.77M2.41M3.21M4.08M4.34M
Tunisia2.55M3.27M3.87M4.08M4.27M
Singapore1.46M2.14M2.94M3.43M3.76M
Papua New Guinea1.1M1.61M2.31M3.27M3.75M
Laos1.51M1.9M2.45M3.16M3.65M
Somalia1.28M1.59M2.17M2.97M3.56M
Paraguay1.63M2.15M2.62M3.28M3.53M
Serbia3.75M3.5M3.1M3.16M3.32M
Nicaragua1.3M1.8M2.4M2.94M3.32M
Denmark2.87M2.86M2.89M3.03M3.29M
Jordan784K1.27M1.84M2.91M3.22M
Norway2.12M2.4M2.67M2.93M3.09M
Bulgaria3.49M3.44M3.42M3.13M3.09M
New Zealand1.62M1.93M2.33M2.87M3.08M
El Salvador1.94M2.3M2.47M2.6M2.99M
Togo1.2M1.58M2.08M2.65M2.96M
Sierra Leone1.54M1.61M2.15M2.54M2.93M
Kuwait700K910K1.56M2.42M2.93M
Ireland1.55M1.92M2.25M2.46M2.91M
Finland2.6M2.6M2.67M2.74M2.89M
Kyrgyzstan1.62M2.13M2.38M2.59M2.87M
Oman561K813K1.19M2.22M2.84M
Slovakia2.6M2.58M2.68M2.71M2.76M
Liberia961K1.29M1.78M2.3M2.67M
Tajikistan1.67M2M2.04M2.28M2.65M
Republic of the Congo913K1.24M1.8M2.18M2.64M
Libya1.18M1.68M2.22M2.24M2.62M
Costa Rica1.15M1.6M2.03M2.42M2.43M
Panama855K1.28M1.67M2.1M2.29M
Turkmenistan1.05M1.53M1.81M1.99M2.2M
Qatar269K408K1.21M2.06M2.2M
Central African Republic1.15M1.52M1.77M1.87M2.08M
Georgia2.71M2.34M2.09M1.86M2.01M
Uruguay1.32M1.49M1.66M1.67M1.81M
Eritrea913K994K1.35M1.52M1.76M
Croatia2.21M1.95M1.91M1.71M1.74M
Jamaica1.09M1.16M1.21M1.46M1.61M
Lithuania1.91M1.69M1.49M1.49M1.55M
Armenia1.63M1.48M1.52M1.45M1.49M
Mongolia704K921K1.16M1.42M1.46M
Moldova1.26M1.34M1.5M1.47M1.37M
Bosnia & Herzegovina1.83M1.76M1.65M1.35M1.34M
Albania1.41M1.33M1.26M1.24M1.26M
Mauritania495K671K837K1.05M1.25M
Botswana448K606K802K973K1.2M
Namibia436K576K759K960K1.15M
Slovenia927K962K1.04M1.03M1.05M
Latvia1.27M1.09M1.06M983K948K
Bahrain228K293K702K816K920K
Guinea-Bissau339K436K564K748K899K
Lesotho761K876K848K819K890K
Gabon275K363K529K703K844K
Gambia276K375K514K695K807K
North Macedonia846K818K835K801K789K
Cyprus357K445K601K719K770K
Estonia829K678K683K700K754K
Equatorial Guinea167K249K435K608K738K
Trinidad & Tobago490K616K670K651K652K
Timor-Leste316K298K429K559K635K
Mauritius448K520K584K590K622K
Solomon Islands150K211K265K383K449K
Eswatini249K313K353K386K431K
Bhutan238K256K337K400K411K
Fiji284K325K391K354K390K
Luxembourg160K189K238K318K356K
Guyana281K277K287K289K327K
Malta135K155K178K275K323K
Comoros98.3K119K165K265K311K
Montenegro230K233K241K257K297K
Maldives59K92.4K142K231K272K
Djibouti114K154K196K241K268K
Suriname124K151K202K236K257K
Bahamas141K174K208K217K245K
Iceland139K168K188K219K243K
Brunei111K156K195K224K238K
Cape Verde124K154K204K197K226K
Belize56.4K86.2K128K152K184K
Barbados134K142K151K146K152K
Vanuatu64K81.6K94.7K106K121K
St. Lucia53.1K68.7K86.4K77.8K102K
Samoa55.6K60.9K65.3K61.9K57.8K
St. Vincent & Grenadines43.6K50.4K54.4K53.6K53.7K
São Tomé & Príncipe16.7K19.9K25.3K30.2K35.1K
Tonga32.9K37.1K37.9K35.6K33.6K
Lebanon1.02M1.3M1.66M1.95M–
Sudan5.94M7.66M9.56M10.7M–
South Sudan1.92M2.45M4.11M4.51M–
Ukraine24.3M23.3M22.4M20.9M–
Countries with data178178178178174

Notes on reading this history

Yearly values come from the same World Bank indicator. The number of countries with data differs by year, so each year’s ranks are given only among the countries that have data that year. The ranking page uses each country’s latest year, so it may not match a single year’s ranking here.

Source: Labor force, total, indicator SL.TLF.TOTL.IN. Processed by this site. data.worldbank.org

World Bank data last updated: 2026-10-08

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