Working-Age Population Share
Working-Age Population Share by country
Commentary
Notable countries
Qatar has the highest working-age population share at 83.25%, followed closely by the United Arab Emirates at 82.12%, with several other Gulf states also clustered near the top. At the other end, the Central African Republic has the lowest share at 48.85%, and the entire bottom 10 is made up of African countries. A notable surprise is that Jamaica and Saint Lucia rank in the global top 10, alongside mostly Asian economies.
Regional trends
North America has the highest continental average at 67.46%, narrowly ahead of Asia at 66.94% and South America at 66.7%. Europe sits somewhat above the global mean at 64.81%, while Oceania is lower at 61.66%. Africa stands out as the lowest region by a clear margin, averaging 58.35%, well below the overall mean of 63.64%.
Data source
The figures come from the World Bank WDI 2024 and are measured as the percentage of the total population aged 15-64. The dataset covers 189 countries. As a caveat, this metric reflects age structure only, not whether people in working ages are actually employed or participating in the labor force.
Interpretation
Higher values indicate a larger share of the population is in the conventional working-age bracket, which can support labor supply and potentially reduce dependency pressures from children and older people. Lower values indicate a relatively smaller working-age base within the total population. Still, a high share is not automatically an economic advantage, because outcomes also depend on jobs, productivity, and broader demographic conditions.