ILOSTAT - Labour force survey — Share of employment in agriculture in in Egypt
Egypt: ILOSTAT - Labour force survey — Share of employment in agriculture in was 17.1 % in 2024. ▼ Falling
ILOSTAT - Labour force survey — Share of employment in agriculture in in Egypt, 1970–2024
Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in in Egypt is 17.1 %, measured in 2024. That is the lowest value across all 49 years on record.
That represents a change of down 3.4% on the previous year and down 37.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in in Egypt peaked at 54.2 % in 1971 and was at its lowest, 17.1 %, in 2024.
That places Egypt 37th out of 116 countries with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 49 years of available data.
ILOSTAT - Labour force survey — Share of employment in agriculture in in Egypt, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1970 | 51.1 % | — |
| 1971 | 54.2 % | +6.1% |
| 1972 | 53.6 % | -1.1% |
| 1973 | 51.3 % | -4.3% |
| 1974 | 47.3 % | -7.8% |
| 1975 | 49 % | +3.6% |
| 1977 | 45.6 % | -6.9% |
| 1978 | 42.1 % | -7.7% |
| 1979 | 41.8 % | -0.7% |
| 1980 | 42.4 % | +1.4% |
| 1981 | 40.3 % | -5.0% |
| 1982 | 39.1 % | -3.0% |
| 1983 | 41 % | +4.9% |
| 1984 | 40.6 % | -1.0% |
| 1989 | 42.4 % | +4.4% |
| 1990 | 39 % | -8.0% |
| 1991 | 31.3 % | -19.7% |
| 1992 | 38.4 % | +22.7% |
| 1993 | 35.3 % | -8.1% |
| 1994 | 35.2 % | -0.3% |
| 1995 | 34 % | -3.4% |
| 1997 | 31.3 % | -7.9% |
| 1998 | 29.8 % | -4.8% |
| 1999 | 28.7 % | -3.7% |
| 2000 | 29.6 % | +3.1% |
| 2001 | 28.5 % | -3.7% |
| 2002 | 27.5 % | -3.5% |
| 2003 | 29.9 % | +8.7% |
| 2004 | 31.8 % | +6.4% |
| 2005 | 30.9 % | -2.8% |
| 2006 | 31.2 % | +1.0% |
| 2007 | 31.7 % | +1.6% |
| 2008 | 31.6 % | -0.3% |
| 2009 | 29.9 % | -5.4% |
| 2010 | 28.2 % | -5.7% |
| 2011 | 29.2 % | +3.5% |
| 2012 | 27.1 % | -7.2% |
| 2013 | 28 % | +3.3% |
| 2014 | 27.5 % | -1.8% |
| 2015 | 25.8 % | -6.2% |
| 2016 | 25.6 % | -0.8% |
| 2017 | 25.1 % | -2.0% |
| 2018 | 21.7 % | -13.5% |
| 2019 | 21.1 % | -2.8% |
| 2020 | 20.3 % | -3.8% |
| 2021 | 19.2 % | -5.4% |
| 2022 | 18.9 % | -1.6% |
| 2023 | 17.7 % | -6.3% |
| 2024 | 17.1 % | -3.4% |
Egypt compared with similar countries
- Egypt's 17.1 % is below the median for lower middle income countries, which is 34.4 %, 50% of the median. (19 countries reporting)
- Egypt's 17.1 % is above the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 6.6 %, 2.6× the median. (11 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 48.44 % | 41.8 % | 54.2 % | 9 |
| 1980s | 40.97 % | 39.1 % | 42.4 % | 6 |
| 1990s | 33.67 % | 28.7 % | 39 % | 9 |
| 2000s | 30.26 % | 27.5 % | 31.8 % | 10 |
| 2010s | 25.93 % | 21.1 % | 29.2 % | 10 |
| 2020s | 18.64 % | 17.1 % | 20.3 % | 5 |
Countries ranked near Egypt
More agriculture & rural data for Egypt
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), annual 13.32 % change on previous year (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 0.1655 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 510.76 current US$ per person (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 1.38 % change on previous year (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0002 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population, per capita 0.571 units per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 16.6% (2025)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 16.6% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 1.1% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 2.1% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in in Egypt?
- Ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in in Egypt was 17.1 % in 2024, 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 Egypt?
- The highest recorded value was 54.2 % in 1971.
- What is the lowest ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in recorded in Egypt?
- The lowest recorded value was 17.1 % in 2024.
- How does Egypt rank for ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in?
- Egypt ranks 37th out of 116 countries with data for 2024.
- Is ilostat - labour force survey — share of employment in agriculture in rising or falling in Egypt?
- Over the last ten years it is down 37.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Egypt 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 — Value. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 49 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.