ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Employment in agriculture - ILO in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa: ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Employment in agriculture - ILO was 248,519 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
The most recent figure for ilo - ilo modelled estimates — employment in agriculture - ilo in Sub-Saharan Africa is 248,519 1000 No, measured in 2025. That is the highest value across all 35 years on record.
That represents a change of up 2.0% on the previous year and up 22.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, ilo - ilo modelled estimates — employment in agriculture - ilo in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 248,519 1000 No in 2025 and was at its lowest, 118,147 1000 No, in 1991.
That places Sub-Saharan Africa 5th out of 31 groups with data for 2025, putting it 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 | 118,147 1000 No | — |
| 1992 | 122,303 1000 No | +3.5% |
| 1993 | 126,100 1000 No | +3.1% |
| 1994 | 130,295 1000 No | +3.3% |
| 1995 | 134,267 1000 No | +3.0% |
| 1996 | 137,182 1000 No | +2.2% |
| 1997 | 140,604 1000 No | +2.5% |
| 1998 | 144,193 1000 No | +2.6% |
| 1999 | 147,895 1000 No | +2.6% |
| 2000 | 151,806 1000 No | +2.6% |
| 2001 | 155,995 1000 No | +2.8% |
| 2002 | 160,633 1000 No | +3.0% |
| 2003 | 164,919 1000 No | +2.7% |
| 2004 | 168,659 1000 No | +2.3% |
| 2005 | 172,635 1000 No | +2.4% |
| 2006 | 176,063 1000 No | +2.0% |
| 2007 | 179,171 1000 No | +1.8% |
| 2008 | 182,358 1000 No | +1.8% |
| 2009 | 185,155 1000 No | +1.5% |
| 2010 | 186,523 1000 No | +0.7% |
| 2011 | 190,478 1000 No | +2.1% |
| 2012 | 192,241 1000 No | +0.9% |
| 2013 | 198,266 1000 No | +3.1% |
| 2014 | 200,059 1000 No | +0.9% |
| 2015 | 202,805 1000 No | +1.4% |
| 2016 | 206,807 1000 No | +2.0% |
| 2017 | 208,654 1000 No | +0.9% |
| 2018 | 210,774 1000 No | +1.0% |
| 2019 | 212,176 1000 No | +0.7% |
| 2020 | 220,172 1000 No | +3.8% |
| 2021 | 226,961 1000 No | +3.1% |
| 2022 | 232,443 1000 No | +2.4% |
| 2023 | 239,193 1000 No | +2.9% |
| 2024 | 243,622 1000 No | +1.9% |
| 2025 | 248,519 1000 No | +2.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 133,443 1000 No | 118,147 1000 No | 147,895 1000 No | 9 |
| 2000s | 169,739 1000 No | 151,806 1000 No | 185,155 1000 No | 10 |
| 2010s | 200,878 1000 No | 186,523 1000 No | 212,176 1000 No | 10 |
| 2020s | 235,152 1000 No | 220,172 1000 No | 248,519 1000 No | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa
- 2 China 160,415 1000 No compare
- 3 China, mainland 159,883 1000 No compare
- 4 Democratic Republic of the Congo 21,934 1000 No compare
- 4 Indonesia 38,855 1000 No compare
- 5 Nigeria 37,896 1000 No compare
- 5 United Republic of Tanzania 21,643 1000 No compare
- 6 Ethiopia 33,014 1000 No compare
- 6 Viet Nam 14,068 1000 No compare
- 7 Bangladesh 31,830 1000 No compare
- 7 Democratic People's Republic of Korea 9,231 1000 No compare
- 8 Pakistan 29,180 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 248,519 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 248,519 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 118,147 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 22.5%. 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 — 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.