Statizoid

Economically active population in agriculture (number) by country

Agricultural employment shows the number of workers in the agricultural sector.

Countries reporting
53
Highest
33.14 million number
Ethiopia
Lowest
30,000 number
Seychelles
Median
2.81 million number
Years covered
33
1980–2012
Data points
1,934

What the numbers show

Economically active population in agriculture (number) is currently reported for 53 countries. The highest value is 33.14 million number in Ethiopia; the lowest is 30,000 number in Seychelles.

The median across all reporting countries is 2.81 million number, and the mean is 4.20 million number.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 1,105.

Over the past decade 43 countries rose and 10 fell. The largest increase was in Madagascar (up 39.8%), and the largest decrease in Libya (down 34.0%).

Economically active population in agriculture: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Ethiopia 33.14 million number 2012 up 29.5% rising
2 Tanzania 17.80 million number 2012 up 26.5% rising
3 Democratic Republic of Congo 14.68 million number 2012 up 20.9% rising
4 Kenya 13.77 million number 2012 up 22.1% rising
5 Nigeria 12.29 million number 2012 down 0.8% falling
6 Uganda 11.62 million number 2012 up 31.3% rising
7 Mozambique 9.05 million number 2012 up 22.2% rising
8 Madagascar 7.73 million number 2012 up 39.8% rising
9 Burkina Faso 7.39 million number 2012 up 39.2% rising
10 Sudan 7.34 million number 2012 up 15.5% rising
11 Egypt 6.57 million number 2012 up 1.9% flat
12 Ghana 6.39 million number 2012 up 27.8% rising
13 Angola 6.19 million number 2012 up 34.1% rising
14 Malawi 5.22 million number 2012 up 28.8% rising
15 Rwanda 4.62 million number 2012 up 31.4% rising
16 Niger 4.53 million number 2012 up 37.1% rising
17 Senegal 4.05 million number 2012 up 31.5% rising
18 Guinea 4.00 million number 2012 up 17.6% rising
19 Burundi 3.85 million number 2012 up 32.7% rising
20 Cameroon 3.57 million number 2012 up 1.4% rising
21 Zambia 3.39 million number 2012 up 22.7% rising
22 Zimbabwe 3.21 million number 2012 down 1.4% rising
23 Mali 3.20 million number 2012 up 28.4% rising
24 Algeria 3.19 million number 2012 up 11.9% rising
25 Chad 3.03 million number 2012 up 19.0% rising
26 Morocco 2.94 million number 2012 down 6.5% flat
27 Cote d'Ivoire 2.81 million number 2012 down 3.7% rising
28 Somalia 2.54 million number 2012 up 19.4% rising
29 Eritrea 1.63 million number 2012 up 37.1% rising
30 Benin 1.63 million number 2012 up 14.0% rising
31 Sierra Leone 1.36 million number 2012 up 23.0% rising
32 Togo 1.33 million number 2012 up 15.6% rising
33 Central African Republic 1.27 million number 2012 up 6.4% rising
34 South Africa 1.12 million number 2012 down 21.8% falling
35 Liberia 952,000 number 2012 up 29.0% rising
36 Tunisia 809,000 number 2012 up 5.3% rising
37 Mauritania 782,000 number 2012 up 29.9% rising
38 Gambia 640,000 number 2012 up 31.7% rising
39 Congo 527,000 number 2012 up 4.2% rising
40 Guinea-Bissau 463,000 number 2012 up 15.8% rising
41 Lesotho 368,000 number 2012 up 4.2% rising
42 Botswana 326,000 number 2012 up 18.1% rising
43 Djibouti 297,000 number 2012 up 22.2% rising
44 Namibia 271,000 number 2012 up 6.3% rising
45 Comoros 234,000 number 2012 up 30.0% rising
46 Gabon 185,000 number 2012 down 9.3% falling
47 Equatorial Guinea 184,000 number 2012 up 22.7% rising
48 Eswatini 137,000 number 2012 down 6.2% rising
49 Libya 64,000 number 2012 down 34.0% falling
50 Mauritius 45,000 number 2012 down 28.6% falling
51 Sao Tome and Principe 34,000 number 2012 up 21.4% rising
52 Cape Verde 31,000 number 2012 down 11.4% falling
53 Seychelles 30,000 number 2012 up 7.1% rising

Regions and income groups

Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.

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Economically active population in agriculture by country. Statizoid, drawing on Food and Agriculture Organization, Production Yearbook and data files. Retrieved 17 August 2026, from https://agriculture.statizoid.com/stat/economically-active-population-in-agriculture-number/

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About this data

Indicator
Economically active population in agriculture (number)
Unit
number
Source
Food and Agriculture Organization, Production Yearbook and data files
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
59 places, 1,934 data points, 1980–2012
Last refreshed

Agricultural employment shows the number of workers in the agricultural sector.