Share of employment in agriculture in Democratic Republic of Congo
Democratic Republic of Congo: Share of employment in agriculture was 58.5% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Share of employment in agriculture in Democratic Republic of Congo, 1991–2025
Source: ILO Modelled Estimates, via World Bank (2026); Broadberry and Gardner (2013); International Labor Organization (via World Bank) (2013) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Democratic Republic of Congo recorded 58.5% for share of employment in agriculture in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.6% on the previous year and down 2.8% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of employment in agriculture in Democratic Republic of Congo peaked at 67.8% in 2001 and was at its lowest, 58.5%, in 2025.
Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 15th of 186 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.
Share of employment in agriculture in Democratic Republic of Congo, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 58.6% | — |
| 1992 | 60.6% | +3.5% |
| 1993 | 62.6% | +3.3% |
| 1994 | 64.0% | +2.2% |
| 1995 | 64.4% | +0.7% |
| 1996 | 63.9% | -0.8% |
| 1997 | 65.2% | +2.0% |
| 1998 | 65.6% | +0.6% |
| 1999 | 66.7% | +1.7% |
| 2000 | 67.0% | +0.4% |
| 2001 | 67.8% | +1.2% |
| 2002 | 67.4% | -0.6% |
| 2003 | 66.9% | -0.7% |
| 2004 | 66.3% | -0.9% |
| 2005 | 65.7% | -0.9% |
| 2006 | 65.3% | -0.6% |
| 2007 | 64.8% | -0.7% |
| 2008 | 64.4% | -0.7% |
| 2009 | 64.5% | +0.1% |
| 2010 | 63.7% | -1.2% |
| 2011 | 63.1% | -0.9% |
| 2012 | 62.6% | -0.8% |
| 2013 | 61.8% | -1.3% |
| 2014 | 60.9% | -1.6% |
| 2015 | 60.2% | -1.1% |
| 2016 | 60.3% | +0.2% |
| 2017 | 60.2% | -0.1% |
| 2018 | 59.7% | -0.9% |
| 2019 | 59.4% | -0.5% |
| 2020 | 60.9% | +2.6% |
| 2021 | 61.4% | +0.8% |
| 2022 | 60.4% | -1.7% |
| 2023 | 59.5% | -1.4% |
| 2024 | 58.9% | -1.0% |
| 2025 | 58.5% | -0.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 63.5% | 58.6% | 66.7% | 9 |
| 2000s | 66.0% | 64.4% | 67.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 61.2% | 59.4% | 63.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 59.9% | 58.5% | 61.4% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Democratic Republic of Congo
More agriculture & rural data for Democratic Republic of Congo
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 8.13 billion current US$ (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current US$), per 72.04 current US$ per person (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 8.9% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 0.3% (2023)
- Rural population, per capita 0.5489 units per person (2025)
- Rural population, per unit of GDP 0.0007 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Rural population 54.9% (2025)
- Rural population 61.93 million (2025)
- Rural population growth 2.5% (2025)
- Rural population, annual growth rate 2.57 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of employment in agriculture in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Share of employment in agriculture in Democratic Republic of Congo was 58.5% in 2025, according to ILO Modelled Estimates, via World Bank (2026); Broadberry and Gardner (2013); International Labor Organization (via World Bank) (2013) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of employment in agriculture recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The highest recorded value was 67.8% in 2001.
- What is the lowest share of employment in agriculture recorded in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- The lowest recorded value was 58.5% in 2025.
- How does Democratic Republic of Congo rank for share of employment in agriculture?
- Democratic Republic of Congo ranks 15th out of 186 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of employment in agriculture rising or falling in Democratic Republic of Congo?
- Over the last ten years it is down 2.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Democratic Republic of Congo data come from?
- The figures come from ILO Modelled Estimates, via World Bank (2026); Broadberry and Gardner (2013); International Labor Organization (via World Bank) (2013) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of employment in agriculture. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Share of working people employed in agriculture, including hunting, forestry and fishing.