ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Employment in agriculture - ILO in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa: ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Employment in agriculture - ILO was 135,326 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 135,326 1000 No for ilo - ilo modelled estimates — employment in agriculture - ilo in 2025. That is the highest value across all 35 years on record.
The figure is up 1.9% on the previous year and up 24.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, ilo - ilo modelled estimates — employment in agriculture - ilo in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 135,326 1000 No in 2025 and was at its lowest, 63,072 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 | 63,072 1000 No | — |
| 1992 | 65,222 1000 No | +3.4% |
| 1993 | 67,250 1000 No | +3.1% |
| 1994 | 69,386 1000 No | +3.2% |
| 1995 | 71,441 1000 No | +3.0% |
| 1996 | 73,037 1000 No | +2.2% |
| 1997 | 74,877 1000 No | +2.5% |
| 1998 | 76,793 1000 No | +2.6% |
| 1999 | 78,676 1000 No | +2.5% |
| 2000 | 80,428 1000 No | +2.2% |
| 2001 | 82,620 1000 No | +2.7% |
| 2002 | 84,884 1000 No | +2.7% |
| 2003 | 87,053 1000 No | +2.6% |
| 2004 | 88,852 1000 No | +2.1% |
| 2005 | 90,822 1000 No | +2.2% |
| 2006 | 92,715 1000 No | +2.1% |
| 2007 | 94,469 1000 No | +1.9% |
| 2008 | 96,376 1000 No | +2.0% |
| 2009 | 98,083 1000 No | +1.8% |
| 2010 | 98,876 1000 No | +0.8% |
| 2011 | 101,037 1000 No | +2.2% |
| 2012 | 102,719 1000 No | +1.7% |
| 2013 | 106,098 1000 No | +3.3% |
| 2014 | 107,217 1000 No | +1.1% |
| 2015 | 109,016 1000 No | +1.7% |
| 2016 | 111,634 1000 No | +2.4% |
| 2017 | 112,977 1000 No | +1.2% |
| 2018 | 114,363 1000 No | +1.2% |
| 2019 | 115,584 1000 No | +1.1% |
| 2020 | 120,214 1000 No | +4.0% |
| 2021 | 123,765 1000 No | +3.0% |
| 2022 | 127,327 1000 No | +2.9% |
| 2023 | 130,400 1000 No | +2.4% |
| 2024 | 132,744 1000 No | +1.8% |
| 2025 | 135,326 1000 No | +1.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 71,084 1000 No | 63,072 1000 No | 78,676 1000 No | 9 |
| 2000s | 89,630 1000 No | 80,428 1000 No | 98,083 1000 No | 10 |
| 2010s | 107,952 1000 No | 98,876 1000 No | 115,584 1000 No | 10 |
| 2020s | 128,296 1000 No | 120,214 1000 No | 135,326 1000 No | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa
- 2 China 97,357 1000 No compare
- 3 China, mainland 96,956 1000 No compare
- 4 Nigeria 25,108 1000 No compare
- 4 United Republic of Tanzania 10,744 1000 No compare
- 5 Democratic Republic of the Congo 9,468 1000 No compare
- 5 Indonesia 24,580 1000 No compare
- 6 Ethiopia 21,332 1000 No compare
- 6 Viet Nam 7,360 1000 No compare
- 7 Democratic People's Republic of Korea 4,485 1000 No compare
- 7 Pakistan 16,903 1000 No compare
- 8 Bangladesh 13,542 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 135,326 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 135,326 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 63,072 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 24.1%. 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 — Male — 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.