ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in in Zambia
Zambia: ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in was 51.6 % in 2025. ▼ Falling
ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in in Zambia, 1991–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in in Zambia is 51.6 %, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
That represents a change of down 1.3% on the previous year and down 6.9% over ten years.
Over the whole period, ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in in Zambia peaked at 68.9 % in 2003 and was at its lowest, 51.6 %, in 2025.
Zambia ranks 16th of 175 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.
ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in in Zambia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 65.9 % | — |
| 1992 | 66.3 % | +0.6% |
| 1993 | 66.2 % | -0.2% |
| 1994 | 65.9 % | -0.5% |
| 1995 | 66 % | +0.2% |
| 1996 | 65.7 % | -0.5% |
| 1997 | 65.7 % | +0.0% |
| 1998 | 66.1 % | +0.6% |
| 1999 | 66.8 % | +1.1% |
| 2000 | 67.3 % | +0.7% |
| 2001 | 68 % | +1.0% |
| 2002 | 68.6 % | +0.9% |
| 2003 | 68.9 % | +0.4% |
| 2004 | 68.9 % | +0.0% |
| 2005 | 68.8 % | -0.1% |
| 2006 | 68.8 % | +0.0% |
| 2007 | 68.7 % | -0.1% |
| 2008 | 68.5 % | -0.3% |
| 2009 | 65.8 % | -3.9% |
| 2010 | 62.5 % | -5.0% |
| 2011 | 59.6 % | -4.6% |
| 2012 | 56.2 % | -5.7% |
| 2013 | 56 % | -0.4% |
| 2014 | 55.7 % | -0.5% |
| 2015 | 55.4 % | -0.5% |
| 2016 | 55.2 % | -0.4% |
| 2017 | 55 % | -0.4% |
| 2018 | 53.8 % | -2.2% |
| 2019 | 53.1 % | -1.3% |
| 2020 | 54.7 % | +3.0% |
| 2021 | 53.7 % | -1.8% |
| 2022 | 53 % | -1.3% |
| 2023 | 52.9 % | -0.2% |
| 2024 | 52.3 % | -1.1% |
| 2025 | 51.6 % | -1.3% |
Zambia compared with similar countries
- Zambia's 51.6 % is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 34.7 %, 1.5× the median. (40 countries reporting)
- Zambia's 51.6 % is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 42.7 %, 1.2× the median. (43 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 66.07 % | 65.7 % | 66.8 % | 9 |
| 2000s | 68.23 % | 65.8 % | 68.9 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 56.25 % | 53.1 % | 62.5 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 53.03 % | 51.6 % | 54.7 % | 6 |
Countries ranked near Zambia
- 13 Guinea-Bissau 56.4 % compare
- 14 Equatorial Guinea 54.7 % compare
- 14 Syrian Arab Republic 17.8 % compare
- 15 Eritrea 53.1 % compare
- 15 Polynesia 17.07 % compare
- 16 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 13.8 % compare
- 17 Afghanistan 50.2 % compare
- 17 Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 12.4 % compare
- 18 Burkina Faso 50 % compare
- 18 Türkiye 12.3 % compare
- 19 Cabo Verde 12.6 % compare
- 19 Myanmar 49.2 % compare
More agriculture & rural data for Zambia
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 65.37 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0411 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 54.11 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 1.97 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0004 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.5408 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 4.1% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 4.1% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.4% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.7% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in in Zambia?
- Ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in in Zambia was 51.6 % in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in recorded in Zambia?
- The highest recorded value was 68.9 % in 2003.
- What is the lowest ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in recorded in Zambia?
- The lowest recorded value was 51.6 % in 2025.
- How does Zambia rank for ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in?
- Zambia ranks 16th out of 175 countries with data for 2025.
- Is ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in rising or falling in Zambia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 6.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Zambia data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in total employment - 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.