Employment in agriculture (% of total employment) in North America
North America: Employment in agriculture (% of total employment) was 1.5% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Employment in agriculture (% of total employment) in North America, 1991–2025
Source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
Analysis
In 2025, employment in agriculture (% of total employment) in North America stood at 1.5%. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
That represents a change of down 2.8% on the previous year and down 21.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, employment in agriculture (% of total employment) in North America peaked at 3.0% in 1991 and was at its lowest, 1.5%, in 2025.
That places North America 47th out of 47 groups with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.
Employment in agriculture (% of total employment) in North America, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 3.0% | — |
| 1992 | 3.0% | -1.2% |
| 1993 | 2.8% | -4.7% |
| 1994 | 3.0% | +5.5% |
| 1995 | 2.9% | -1.1% |
| 1996 | 2.9% | -1.4% |
| 1997 | 2.8% | -3.4% |
| 1998 | 2.7% | -2.1% |
| 1999 | 2.6% | -4.3% |
| 2000 | 2.4% | -8.1% |
| 2001 | 2.2% | -7.4% |
| 2002 | 2.1% | -6.6% |
| 2003 | 1.9% | -6.6% |
| 2004 | 1.9% | -3.3% |
| 2005 | 1.8% | -2.5% |
| 2006 | 1.8% | -1.5% |
| 2007 | 1.7% | -5.6% |
| 2008 | 1.7% | +1.9% |
| 2009 | 1.8% | +0.7% |
| 2010 | 1.8% | +5.4% |
| 2011 | 1.9% | +0.9% |
| 2012 | 1.8% | -3.6% |
| 2013 | 1.7% | -3.2% |
| 2014 | 1.8% | +1.6% |
| 2015 | 1.9% | +5.9% |
| 2016 | 1.9% | +1.7% |
| 2017 | 1.8% | -3.1% |
| 2018 | 1.8% | -3.1% |
| 2019 | 1.8% | -1.4% |
| 2020 | 1.7% | -2.0% |
| 2021 | 1.6% | -5.5% |
| 2022 | 1.6% | -2.7% |
| 2023 | 1.5% | -3.1% |
| 2024 | 1.5% | -1.1% |
| 2025 | 1.5% | -2.8% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 2.9% | 2.6% | 3.0% | 9 |
| 2000s | 1.9% | 1.7% | 2.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.8% | 1.7% | 1.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.6% | 1.5% | 1.7% | 6 |
Countries ranked near North America
More agriculture & rural data for North America
- Rural population, per capita 0.1951 units per person (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 256.06 billion current US$ (2021)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 1.0% (2021)
- Rural population 74.83 million (2025)
- Rural population growth 0.2% (2025)
- Rural population 19.5% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.8% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.9% (2024)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0099 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2021)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is employment in agriculture (% of total employment) in North America?
- Employment in agriculture (% of total employment) in North America was 1.5% in 2025, according to ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
- What is the highest employment in agriculture (% of total employment) recorded in North America?
- The highest recorded value was 3.0% in 1991.
- What is the lowest employment in agriculture (% of total employment) recorded in North America?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.5% in 2025.
- How does North America rank for employment in agriculture (% of total employment)?
- North America ranks 47th out of 47 groups with data for 2025.
- Is employment in agriculture (% of total employment) rising or falling in North America?
- Over the last ten years it is down 21.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this North America data come from?
- The figures come from ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO), published as part of Employment in agriculture (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 35 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Employment is defined as persons of working age who were engaged in any activity to produce goods or provide services for pay or profit, whether at work during the reference period or not at work due to temporary absence from a job, or to working-time arrangement. The agriculture sector consists of activities in agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing, in accordance with division 1 (ISIC 2) or categories A-B (ISIC 3) or category A (ISIC 4).