Employment by main economic activity - Regions by country
This dataset provides indicators on employment by 10 broad activities and labour utilisation, in large regions (TL2) and small regions (TL3). Data source and definition Employment data is collected from Eurostat for EU countries and via delegates of the OECD Working Party on Territorial Indicators (WPTI), as well...
What the numbers show
Employment by main economic activity - Regions is currently reported for 43 countries. The highest value is 158.01 million Persons in United States; the lowest is 0 Persons in Japan.
The median across all reporting countries is 4.79 million Persons, and the mean is 13.18 million Persons.
Over the past decade 39 countries rose and 2 fell. The largest increase was in Malta (up 63.8%), and the largest decrease in North Macedonia (down 0.7%).
Employment by main economic activity - Regions: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 158.01 million Persons | 2022 | up 13.2% | rising |
| 2 | Mexico | 58.94 million Persons | 2024 | up 20.2% | rising |
| 3 | Germany | 45.99 million Persons | 2024 | up 7.6% | rising |
| 4 | United Kingdom | 33.43 million Persons | 2021 | up 9.5% | rising |
| 5 | France | 30.62 million Persons | 2024 | up 11.6% | rising |
| 6 | Italy | 26.51 million Persons | 2024 | up 9.8% | rising |
| 7 | Colombia | 23.62 million Persons | 2025 | up 13.9% | rising |
| 8 | Spain | 22.00 million Persons | 2024 | up 21.6% | rising |
| 9 | Canada | 20.17 million Persons | 2023 | up 13.9% | rising |
| 10 | Poland | 17.42 million Persons | 2024 | up 10.7% | rising |
| 11 | Australia | 14.12 million Persons | 2023 | up 23.6% | rising |
| 12 | Netherlands | 10.27 million Persons | 2024 | up 17.9% | rising |
| 13 | South Africa | 10.01 million Persons | 2009 | β | flat |
| 14 | Chile | 9.04 million Persons | 2023 | up 12.5% | rising |
| 15 | Romania | 8.63 million Persons | 2024 | down 0.1% | falling |
| 16 | Switzerland | 5.64 million Persons | 2023 | up 13.3% | rising |
| 17 | Czechia | 5.45 million Persons | 2024 | up 6.8% | rising |
| 18 | Sweden | 5.45 million Persons | 2024 | up 13.4% | rising |
| 19 | Portugal | 5.28 million Persons | 2024 | up 16.7% | flat |
| 20 | Greece | 5.18 million Persons | 2024 | up 16.4% | rising |
| 21 | Belgium | 5.10 million Persons | 2024 | up 11.7% | rising |
| 22 | Hungary | 4.79 million Persons | 2024 | up 14.1% | rising |
| 23 | Austria | 4.73 million Persons | 2024 | up 10.9% | rising |
| 24 | Israel | 4.62 million Persons | 2023 | up 23.6% | rising |
| 25 | Bulgaria | 3.52 million Persons | 2024 | up 2.5% | flat |
| 26 | Serbia | 3.37 million Persons | 2024 | up 4.3% | falling |
| 27 | Denmark | 3.22 million Persons | 2024 | up 15.5% | rising |
| 28 | Norway | 2.93 million Persons | 2022 | up 10.9% | rising |
| 29 | New Zealand | 2.86 million Persons | 2023 | up 31.5% | rising |
| 30 | Ireland | 2.76 million Persons | 2024 | up 38.9% | rising |
| 31 | Finland | 2.74 million Persons | 2024 | up 9.1% | rising |
| 32 | Costa Rica | 2.18 million Persons | 2025 | up 10.0% | rising |
| 33 | Croatia | 1.76 million Persons | 2024 | up 14.3% | flat |
| 34 | Lithuania | 1.50 million Persons | 2024 | up 13.1% | flat |
| 35 | Slovenia | 1.10 million Persons | 2024 | up 18.5% | rising |
| 36 | Latvia | 908,760 Persons | 2024 | up 3.7% | falling |
| 37 | North Macedonia | 739,380 Persons | 2023 | down 0.7% | rising |
| 38 | Estonia | 690,870 Persons | 2024 | up 14.1% | rising |
| 39 | Luxembourg | 516,030 Persons | 2024 | up 30.6% | rising |
| 40 | Cyprus | 506,700 Persons | 2024 | up 39.4% | rising |
| 41 | Malta | 325,240 Persons | 2024 | up 63.8% | rising |
| 42 | Iceland | 202,900 Persons | 2019 | up 20.8% | rising |
| 43 | Japan | 0 Persons | 2024 | β | volatile |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- China (People's Republic of) 374.13 million Persons
- Korea 28.89 million Persons
- Slovak Republic 2.43 million Persons
About this data
This dataset provides indicators on employment by 10 broad activities and labour utilisation, in large regions (TL2) and small regions (TL3). Data source and definition Employment data is collected from Eurostat for EU countries and via delegates of the OECD Working Party on Territorial Indicators (WPTI), as well as from national statistical offices' websites. Employment is measured at place of work. Labour utilisation is measured by the number of employment at place of work per capita, for total activity. See the Regional data sources. Definition of regions Regions are subnational units below national boundaries. OECD countries have two regional levels: large regions (territorial level 2 or TL2) and small regions (territorial level 3 or TL3). See the OECD Territorial grid. Use of economic data on small regions TL3 regions are grouped into typologies based on shared characteristics. For economic analysis, TL3 regions belonging to the same Functional Urban Area (FUA) with more than 250,000 inhabitants are aggregated into a single metropolitan region to reduce distortions from commuting. See the OECD Territorial Correspondence Table. Cite this dataset OECD Regions, Cities and Local Areas database http://oe.cd/geostats. Further information OECD Regions and Cities Statistical Atlas OECD Regions and Cities at a Glance For questions and/or comments, please email RegionStat@oecd.org.