ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in in Sub-Saharan Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa: ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in was 49.45 % in 2025. ▼ Falling
ILO - ILO Modelled Estimates — Share of employment in agriculture in in Sub-Saharan Africa, 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 Sub-Saharan Africa is 49.45 %, measured in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.9% on the previous year and down 7.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 60.9 % in 1994 and was at its lowest, 49.45 %, in 2025.
Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 4th of 31 groups 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 Sub-Saharan Africa, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 60.42 % | — |
| 1992 | 60.73 % | +0.5% |
| 1993 | 60.82 % | +0.1% |
| 1994 | 60.9 % | +0.1% |
| 1995 | 60.87 % | -0.0% |
| 1996 | 60.54 % | -0.5% |
| 1997 | 60.45 % | -0.1% |
| 1998 | 60.31 % | -0.2% |
| 1999 | 60.18 % | -0.2% |
| 2000 | 60.07 % | -0.2% |
| 2001 | 59.97 % | -0.2% |
| 2002 | 59.98 % | +0.0% |
| 2003 | 59.84 % | -0.2% |
| 2004 | 59.42 % | -0.7% |
| 2005 | 59.1 % | -0.5% |
| 2006 | 58.66 % | -0.7% |
| 2007 | 58.15 % | -0.9% |
| 2008 | 57.68 % | -0.8% |
| 2009 | 57.24 % | -0.8% |
| 2010 | 56.36 % | -1.5% |
| 2011 | 55.79 % | -1.0% |
| 2012 | 55.02 % | -1.4% |
| 2013 | 54.69 % | -0.6% |
| 2014 | 54.11 % | -1.1% |
| 2015 | 53.57 % | -1.0% |
| 2016 | 53.31 % | -0.5% |
| 2017 | 52.67 % | -1.2% |
| 2018 | 51.86 % | -1.5% |
| 2019 | 50.93 % | -1.8% |
| 2020 | 52.38 % | +2.8% |
| 2021 | 52.26 % | -0.2% |
| 2022 | 51.14 % | -2.1% |
| 2023 | 50.56 % | -1.1% |
| 2024 | 49.92 % | -1.3% |
| 2025 | 49.45 % | -0.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 60.58 % | 60.18 % | 60.9 % | 9 |
| 2000s | 59.01 % | 57.24 % | 60.07 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 53.83 % | 50.93 % | 56.36 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 50.95 % | 49.45 % | 52.38 % | 6 |
Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa
- 1 Burundi 85.3 % compare
- 1 Lao People's Democratic Republic 68.6 % compare
- 2 Mozambique 73 % compare
- 2 Niger 73 % compare
- 2 United Republic of Tanzania 64.6 % compare
- 3 Democratic Republic of the Congo 58.5 % compare
- 4 Chad 71.7 % compare
- 5 Madagascar 69.2 % compare
- 6 Central African Republic 66.1 % compare
- 6 Democratic People's Republic of Korea 54.1 % compare
- 7 Côte d'Ivoire 45.4 % compare
- 7 Malawi 65 % compare
- 7 Republic of Moldova 50.5 % 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 — share of employment in agriculture in in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in in Sub-Saharan Africa was 49.45 % 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 Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 60.9 % in 1994.
- What is the lowest ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 49.45 % in 2025.
- How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in?
- Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 4th out of 31 groups with data for 2025.
- Is ilo - ilo modelled estimates — share of employment in agriculture in rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 7.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- 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 — Share of employment in agriculture in total employment - 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.