ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Employment in agriculture - ILO in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa: ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Employment in agriculture - ILO was 113,193 1000 No in 2025. ▲ Rising
ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Employment in agriculture - ILO in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1991–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in 1000 No.
Analysis
Sub-Saharan Africa recorded 113,193 1000 No for ilo - ilo modelled estimates — employment in agriculture - ilo in 2025. That is the highest value across all 35 years on record.
That represents a change of up 2.1% on the previous year and up 20.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, ilo - ilo modelled estimates — employment in agriculture - ilo in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 113,193 1000 No in 2025 and was at its lowest, 55,074 1000 No, in 1991.
Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 5th of 31 groups on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 35 years of available data.
ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Employment in agriculture - ILO in Sub-Saharan Africa, year by year
| Year | 1000 No | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 55,074 1000 No | — |
| 1992 | 57,081 1000 No | +3.6% |
| 1993 | 58,850 1000 No | +3.1% |
| 1994 | 60,910 1000 No | +3.5% |
| 1995 | 62,826 1000 No | +3.1% |
| 1996 | 64,146 1000 No | +2.1% |
| 1997 | 65,727 1000 No | +2.5% |
| 1998 | 67,400 1000 No | +2.5% |
| 1999 | 69,219 1000 No | +2.7% |
| 2000 | 71,378 1000 No | +3.1% |
| 2001 | 73,376 1000 No | +2.8% |
| 2002 | 75,749 1000 No | +3.2% |
| 2003 | 77,865 1000 No | +2.8% |
| 2004 | 79,807 1000 No | +2.5% |
| 2005 | 81,813 1000 No | +2.5% |
| 2006 | 83,348 1000 No | +1.9% |
| 2007 | 84,702 1000 No | +1.6% |
| 2008 | 85,982 1000 No | +1.5% |
| 2009 | 87,071 1000 No | +1.3% |
| 2010 | 87,646 1000 No | +0.7% |
| 2011 | 89,441 1000 No | +2.0% |
| 2012 | 89,522 1000 No | +0.1% |
| 2013 | 92,168 1000 No | +3.0% |
| 2014 | 92,842 1000 No | +0.7% |
| 2015 | 93,789 1000 No | +1.0% |
| 2016 | 95,173 1000 No | +1.5% |
| 2017 | 95,678 1000 No | +0.5% |
| 2018 | 96,412 1000 No | +0.8% |
| 2019 | 96,592 1000 No | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 99,958 1000 No | +3.5% |
| 2021 | 103,196 1000 No | +3.2% |
| 2022 | 105,116 1000 No | +1.9% |
| 2023 | 108,793 1000 No | +3.5% |
| 2024 | 110,878 1000 No | +1.9% |
| 2025 | 113,193 1000 No | +2.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 62,359 1000 No | 55,074 1000 No | 69,219 1000 No | 9 |
| 2000s | 80,109 1000 No | 71,378 1000 No | 87,071 1000 No | 10 |
| 2010s | 92,926 1000 No | 87,646 1000 No | 96,592 1000 No | 10 |
| 2020s | 106,856 1000 No | 99,958 1000 No | 113,193 1000 No | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa
- 2 China 63,058 1000 No compare
- 3 China, mainland 62,928 1000 No compare
- 4 Bangladesh 18,288 1000 No compare
- 4 Democratic Republic of the Congo 12,466 1000 No compare
- 5 Indonesia 14,275 1000 No compare
- 5 United Republic of Tanzania 10,898 1000 No compare
- 6 Nigeria 12,788 1000 No compare
- 6 Viet Nam 6,708 1000 No compare
- 7 Democratic People's Republic of Korea 4,746 1000 No compare
- 7 Pakistan 12,277 1000 No compare
- 8 Ethiopia 11,682 1000 No compare
More agriculture & rural data for Sub-Saharan Africa
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 10.7 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.5534 units per person (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.1791 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 299.6 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 1.53 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0003 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 395.96 billion current US$ (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 17.9% (2025)
- Rural population 731.42 million (2025)
- Rural population growth 1.5% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is ilo - ilo modelled estimates — employment in agriculture - ilo in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Ilo - ilo modelled estimates — employment in agriculture - ilo in Sub-Saharan Africa was 113,193 1000 No in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest ilo - ilo modelled estimates — employment in agriculture - ilo recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 113,193 1000 No in 2025.
- What is the lowest ilo - ilo modelled estimates — employment in agriculture - ilo recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 55,074 1000 No in 1991.
- How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for ilo - ilo modelled estimates — employment in agriculture - ilo?
- Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 5th out of 31 groups with data for 2025.
- Is ilo - ilo modelled estimates — employment in agriculture - ilo rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is up 20.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Employment in agriculture - ILO modelled estimates — Female — Value. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 35 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (FAO).
About this data
The FAOSTAT Employment indicators domain focuses on indicators related to employment in agrifood systems and rural areas. The update is performed yearly, using data from the International Labour Organization (ILO) database that contains a rich set of indicators from a wide range of topics related to labour statistics. The indicators published in FAOSTAT are derived from the labour force statistics (LFS) and rural and urban labour markets (RURURB) databases of the ILOSTAT database. In addition, the ILO modelled estimates and projections (ILOEST) are used to provide information on employment in agriculture. FAOSTAT also publishes indicators on employment in agrifood systems (AFS) from 2000 at the national, regional, and global levels, using a methodology developed by the FAO to estimate the number of people employed within these systems.