ILOSTAT - Labour force survey — Share of employment in agriculture in in Australia
Australia: ILOSTAT - Labour force survey — Share of employment in agriculture in was 2.6 % in 2025. ▼ Falling
ILOSTAT - Labour force survey — Share of employment in agriculture in in Australia, 1969–2025
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2025, ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in in Australia stood at 2.6 %. That is the lowest value across all 57 years on record.
That represents a change of down 10.3% on the previous year and down 21.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in in Australia peaked at 9.8 % in 1969 and was at its lowest, 2.6 %, in 2025.
That places Australia 93rd out of 113 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 57 years of available data.
ILOSTAT - Labour force survey — Share of employment in agriculture in in Australia, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1969 | 9.8 % | — |
| 1970 | 9.8 % | +0.0% |
| 1971 | 9.2 % | -6.1% |
| 1972 | 9.8 % | +6.5% |
| 1973 | 9 % | -8.2% |
| 1974 | 8.7 % | -3.3% |
| 1975 | 8.4 % | -3.4% |
| 1976 | 7.9 % | -6.0% |
| 1977 | 8 % | +1.3% |
| 1978 | 7.6 % | -5.0% |
| 1979 | 8 % | +5.3% |
| 1980 | 7.8 % | -2.5% |
| 1981 | 7.6 % | -2.6% |
| 1982 | 7.7 % | +1.3% |
| 1983 | 8 % | +3.9% |
| 1984 | 7.5 % | -6.2% |
| 1985 | 7.3 % | -2.7% |
| 1986 | 7.2 % | -1.4% |
| 1987 | 6.9 % | -4.2% |
| 1988 | 6.9 % | +0.0% |
| 1989 | 6.6 % | -4.3% |
| 1990 | 6.7 % | +1.5% |
| 1991 | 6.4 % | -4.5% |
| 1992 | 6.1 % | -4.7% |
| 1993 | 6.2 % | +1.6% |
| 1994 | 5.9 % | -4.8% |
| 1995 | 5.7 % | -3.4% |
| 1996 | 5.9 % | +3.5% |
| 1997 | 6 % | +1.7% |
| 1998 | 5.9 % | -1.7% |
| 1999 | 6 % | +1.7% |
| 2000 | 6 % | +0.0% |
| 2001 | 5.8 % | -3.3% |
| 2002 | 5.5 % | -5.2% |
| 2003 | 5 % | -9.1% |
| 2004 | 4.6 % | -8.0% |
| 2005 | 4.5 % | -2.2% |
| 2006 | 4.3 % | -4.4% |
| 2007 | 4.2 % | -2.3% |
| 2008 | 4.1 % | -2.4% |
| 2009 | 4.1 % | +0.0% |
| 2010 | 4 % | -2.4% |
| 2011 | 3.6 % | -10.0% |
| 2012 | 3.5 % | -2.8% |
| 2013 | 3.4 % | -2.9% |
| 2014 | 3.6 % | +5.9% |
| 2015 | 3.3 % | -8.3% |
| 2016 | 3.4 % | +3.0% |
| 2017 | 3.4 % | +0.0% |
| 2018 | 3.5 % | +2.9% |
| 2019 | 3.3 % | -5.7% |
| 2020 | 3.6 % | +9.1% |
| 2021 | 3.1 % | -13.9% |
| 2022 | 3 % | -3.2% |
| 2023 | 2.7 % | -10.0% |
| 2024 | 2.9 % | +7.4% |
| 2025 | 2.6 % | -10.3% |
Australia compared with similar countries
- Australia's 2.6 % is below the median for high income countries, which is 3.4 %, 76% of the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Australia's 2.6 % is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 26.4 %, 10% of the median. (12 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 9.8 % | 9.8 % | 9.8 % | 1 |
| 1970s | 8.64 % | 7.6 % | 9.8 % | 10 |
| 1980s | 7.35 % | 6.6 % | 8 % | 10 |
| 1990s | 6.08 % | 5.7 % | 6.7 % | 10 |
| 2000s | 4.81 % | 4.1 % | 6 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 3.5 % | 3.3 % | 4 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 2.98 % | 2.6 % | 3.6 % | 6 |
Countries ranked near Australia
- 90 Switzerland 2.9 % compare
- 91 Puerto Rico 2.8 % compare
- 91 Seychelles 2.8 % compare
- 93 Sweden 2.6 % compare
- 95 Denmark 2.4 % compare
- 96 Netherlands (Kingdom of the) 2.1 % compare
- 96 Qatar 2.1 % compare
More agriculture & rural data for Australia
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 13.97 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.0227 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 1,476 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 0.5855 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.1228 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 2.3% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 2.3% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.7% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 0.5% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in in Australia?
- Ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in in Australia was 2.6 % in 2025, according to Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
- What is the highest ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 9.8 % in 1969.
- What is the lowest ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.6 % in 2025.
- How does Australia rank for ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in?
- Australia ranks 93rd out of 113 countries with data for 2025.
- Is ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 21.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, published as part of ILOSTAT - Labour force survey — Share of employment in agriculture in total employment — Male — Value. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 57 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.