Governance

Labor force

SL.TLF.TOTL.IN · people

Annual series published by the World Bank, compared across United Kingdom, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, United States, China, Philippines, Sri Lanka. The chart carries the trajectory, the table carries the year by year figures, and the definition at the foot of the page is the World Bank's own, quoted as it stands.

Latest value, United Kingdom: 35.41 m people2025
Period covered: 1990 - 202536 annual values
Highest of the compared countries: 768.07 m peopleChina, 2025
Lowest of the compared countries: 8.26 m peopleSri Lanka, 2025

Countries compared

8 countries compared, that is the maximum. Remove one to add another.

Latest known valuesorted by value

China768.07 m people2025
United States174.83 m people2025
Philippines52.2 m people2025
United Kingdom35.41 m people2025
Italy25.66 m people2025
Spain24.76 m people2025
Netherlands10.35 m people2025
Sri Lanka8.26 m people2025

Year by year values

Click the Year header to reverse the order. An empty cell means the World Bank publishes nothing for that country that year.

Annual values by country
	United Kingdom	Italy	Spain	Netherlands	United States	China	Philippines	Sri Lanka
2025	35.41 m people	25.66 m people	24.76 m people	10.35 m people	174.83 m people	768.07 m people	52.2 m people	8.26 m people
2024	35.32 m people	25.76 m people	24.6 m people	10.31 m people	174.17 m people	768.16 m people	51.31 m people	8.3 m people
2023	34.98 m people	25.81 m people	24.15 m people	10.27 m people	172.27 m people	774.61 m people	50.38 m people	8.11 m people
2022	34.49 m people	25.35 m people	23.77 m people	10.07 m people	169.48 m people	770.11 m people	49.48 m people	8.53 m people
2021	34.11 m people	25.03 m people	23.39 m people	9.86 m people	167.18 m people	781.19 m people	44.7 m people	8.5 m people
2020	34.26 m people	24.98 m people	22.92 m people	9.79 m people	166.57 m people	760.88 m people	42.53 m people	8.49 m people
2019	34.21 m people	25.76 m people	23.23 m people	9.74 m people	168.92 m people	775.93 m people	45.27 m people	8.7 m people
2018	34.02 m people	25.78 m people	23.01 m people	9.61 m people	167 m people	776.87 m people	44.04 m people	8.52 m people
2017	33.75 m people	25.72 m people	23.03 m people	9.49 m people	165.6 m people	779.17 m people	43.27 m people	8.78 m people
2016	33.59 m people	25.55 m people	23.05 m people	9.43 m people	163.89 m people	780.93 m people	44.09 m people	8.61 m people
2015	33.27 m people	25.27 m people	23.13 m people	9.39 m people	161.93 m people	781.08 m people	42.98 m people	8.48 m people
2014	32.99 m people	25.33 m people	23.18 m people	9.28 m people	160.88 m people	780.37 m people	42.54 m people	8.05 m people
2013	32.69 m people	25.18 m people	23.4 m people	9.3 m people	160.13 m people	779.25 m people	41.11 m people	8.03 m people
2012	32.48 m people	25.27 m people	23.6 m people	9.26 m people	159.68 m people	779.02 m people	40.29 m people	8.33 m people
2011	32.15 m people	24.72 m people	23.59 m people	9.15 m people	158.54 m people	778.28 m people	39.6 m people	8.3 m people
2010	31.9 m people	24.68 m people	23.52 m people	9.11 m people	158.33 m people	773.87 m people	38.11 m people	8.3 m people
2009	31.74 m people	24.72 m people	23.4 m people	9.09 m people	158.35 m people	772.14 m people	37.12 m people	8.28 m people
2008	31.58 m people	24.9 m people	23.16 m people	9.07 m people	158.27 m people	769.78 m people	36.07 m people	8.25 m people
2007	31.19 m people	24.53 m people	22.53 m people	9.01 m people	156.59 m people	766.49 m people	35.38 m people	8.22 m people
2006	30.98 m people	24.53 m people	21.94 m people	8.97 m people	155.27 m people	761.96 m people	34.68 m people	8.19 m people
2005	30.48 m people	24.44 m people	21.23 m people	8.94 m people	153.12 m people	754.47 m people	34.02 m people	8.16 m people
2004	30.08 m people	24.57 m people	20.45 m people	8.93 m people	151.22 m people	744.94 m people	33.15 m people	8.13 m people
2003	29.86 m people	23.94 m people	19.76 m people	8.92 m people	149.99 m people	735.68 m people	32.1 m people	8.09 m people
2002	29.64 m people	23.62 m people	18.99 m people	8.9 m people	149.24 m people	725.94 m people	31.31 m people	8.04 m people
2001	29.31 m people	23.4 m people	18.16 m people	8.85 m people	148.21 m people	715.93 m people	30.52 m people	7.96 m people
2000	29.28 m people	23.34 m people	18.28 m people	8.77 m people	147.14 m people	706.84 m people	29.66 m people	7.83 m people
1999	28.98 m people	23.31 m people	17.76 m people	8.68 m people	145.08 m people	700.43 m people	28.77 m people	7.88 m people
1998	28.69 m people	23.19 m people	17.45 m people	8.6 m people	143.1 m people	694.01 m people	27.83 m people	7.9 m people
1997	28.63 m people	23.03 m people	17.19 m people	8.53 m people	141.36 m people	686.47 m people	26.93 m people	7.24 m people
1996	28.45 m people	22.98 m people	16.87 m people	8.47 m people	138.78 m people	678.36 m people	26.19 m people	7.08 m people
1995	28.32 m people	22.75 m people	16.6 m people	8.41 m people	136.62 m people	671.24 m people	25.52 m people	6.82 m people
1994	28.32 m people	22.89 m people	16.47 m people	8.37 m people	134.61 m people	664.57 m people	24.91 m people	6.91 m people
1993	28.35 m people	23.18 m people	16.13 m people	8.32 m people	132.27 m people	658.33 m people	24.32 m people	6.7 m people
1992	28.55 m people	23.36 m people	15.91 m people	8.26 m people	130.85 m people	652.55 m people	23.65 m people	6.5 m people
1991	28.73 m people	24.07 m people	15.68 m people	8.18 m people	128.74 m people	646.25 m people	23.03 m people	6.61 m people
1990	28.87 m people	23.72 m people	15.54 m people	8.1 m people	127.82 m people	639.91 m people	22.44 m people	6.78 m people

World Bank definition

Labor force, total

Labor force comprises people ages 15 and older who supply labor for the production of goods and services during a specified period. It includes people who are currently employed and people who are unemployed but seeking work as well as first-time job-seekers. Not everyone who works is included, however. Unpaid workers, family workers, and students are often omitted, and some countries do not count members of the armed forces. Labor force size tends to vary during the year as seasonal workers enter and leave.

Text published by the World Bank for indicator SL.TLF.TOTL.IN, reproduced unchanged.

The same indicator across Europe & Central Asia

Latest known value for each country in the region, ranked from highest to lowest. Click a country to add it to your comparison.

The same indicator across Europe & Central Asia

Source: World Bank, World Bank Open Data Annual series, fetched server side and cached for 24 hours. The World Bank is never called from your browser.