Countries by Employment in industry, male (% of male employment) (modeled ILO estimate)

The Slovak Republic ranks first globally, with 47.55% of male employment concentrated in industry, just ahead of Czechia at 46.31% and Qatar at 45.51%. At the opposite end, South Sudan records just 2.02%, meaning male workers there are almost entirely outside industry. The 45-percentage-point gap across 186 countries reflects deeply different economic structures and labor market compositions worldwide.

Labour category

Ranking 2025

Values shown in %.

Countries by Employment in industry, male (% of male employment) (modeled ILO estimate)
Rank	Country	%
1	Slovakia	47.55
2	Czechia	46.31
3	Qatar	45.51
4	Guyana	43.81
5	Oman	43.34
6	Slovenia	42.95
7	Belarus	42.34
8	Bahrain	41.82
9	Poland	41.37
10	Hungary	41.25
11	Bosnia and Herzegovina	41.14
12	Romania	40.38
13	Nepal	39.33
14	Vietnam	38.55
15	Estonia	38.24
16	China	37.67
17	Germany	37.45
18	Croatia	36.98
19	United Arab Emirates	36.85
20	Suriname	36.77
21	Lithuania	36.74
22	Russia	36.72
23	Turkmenistan	36.63
24	Iran	36.44
25	Austria	35.94
26	Italy	35.78
27	North Macedonia	35.33
28	Bulgaria	35.21
29	Ukraine	35.04
30	Kyrgyzstan	34.96
31	Serbia	34.28
32	Egypt	34.10
33	Tunisia	33.87
34	Palestine	33.78
35	Portugal	33.68
36	Algeria	33.65
37	South Korea	32.50
38	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	32.48
39	Cabo Verde	32.31
40	Türkiye	32.18
41	Latvia	32.15
42	Finland	32.13
43	Gambia	31.94
44	Cambodia	31.82
45	Japan	31.41
46	New Caledonia	31.39
47	Trinidad and Tobago	31.36
48	Armenia	31.25
49	Lesotho	31.05
50	Malaysia	30.82
51	Mongolia	30.42
52	Eswatini	30.02
53	Kuwait	29.87
54	Chile	29.81
55	Argentina	29.74
56	India	29.64
57	Uzbekistan	29.62
58	Mexico	29.56
59	Australia	29.46
60	Belgium	29.15
61	Spain	29.13
62	New Zealand	29.09
63	Pakistan	28.75
64	El Salvador	28.57
65	France	28.46
66	South Africa	28.40
67	Syria	28.40
68	Iraq	28.37
69	Switzerland	28.35
70	Guam	28.34
71	Kazakhstan	28.01
72	Canada	27.90
73	United States	27.87
74	Philippines	27.56
75	Brazil	27.47
76	Norway	27.45
77	Denmark	27.44
78	Iceland	27.42
79	Sri Lanka	27.35
80	Uruguay	27.21
81	Albania	26.91
82	Montenegro	26.82
83	Mauritius	26.79
84	Indonesia	26.78
85	Jamaica	26.75
86	Dominican Republic	26.58
87	Brunei	26.49
88	U.S. Virgin Islands	26.42
89	Paraguay	26.38
90	Bolivia	26.37
91	Morocco	26.16
92	Ireland	26.15
93	Saudi Arabia	25.84
94	Senegal	25.76
95	Sweden	25.74
96	Bahamas	25.73
97	Rwanda	25.31
98	Barbados	25.20
99	Thailand	25.07
100	Cyprus	25.01
101	Libya	25.00
102	Lebanon	24.99
103	Saint Lucia	24.94
104	Namibia	24.94
105	Malta	24.79
106	Georgia	24.74
107	Colombia	24.63
108	Guatemala	24.62
109	Gabon	24.53
110	Honduras	24.47
111	Hong Kong	24.35
112	North Korea	24.22
113	United Kingdom	23.93
114	Sao Tome and Principe	23.83
115	Azerbaijan	23.74
116	Costa Rica	23.14
117	Peru	22.94
118	Israel	22.92
119	Bangladesh	22.71
120	Greece	22.50
121	Tajikistan	22.37
122	French Polynesia	21.85
123	Ecuador	21.75
124	Panama	21.51
125	Republic of Congo	21.46
126	Botswana	21.43
127	Netherlands	21.09
128	Cuba	20.77
129	Puerto Rico	20.77
130	Ghana	20.76
131	Tonga	20.23
132	Venezuela	20.19
133	Nicaragua	19.96
134	Belize	19.87
135	Kenya	19.47
136	Zimbabwe	19.44
137	Bhutan	19.30
138	Somalia	18.94
139	Samoa	18.88
140	Moldova	18.76
141	Afghanistan	18.73
142	Macao	18.71
143	Burkina Faso	18.59
144	Myanmar	18.40
145	Jordan	18.25
146	Comoros	18.02
147	Eritrea	17.66
148	Nigeria	17.46
149	Benin	17.41
150	Mauritania	17.37
151	Singapore	17.23
152	Guinea	16.76
153	Sierra Leone	16.72
154	Cameroon	16.61
155	Sudan	16.48
156	Zambia	16.00
157	Maldives	15.65
158	Côte d'Ivoire	15.63
159	Togo	15.58
160	Fiji	15.21
161	Vanuatu	14.86
162	Central African Republic	14.56
163	Equatorial Guinea	13.48
164	Papua New Guinea	12.92
165	Angola	12.54
166	Liberia	12.53
167	Guinea-Bissau	12.52
168	Luxembourg	12.36
169	Haiti	12.06
170	Mozambique	11.99
171	Tanzania	11.83
172	Solomon Islands	11.73
173	DR Congo	11.61
174	Yemen	11.10
175	Uganda	10.76
176	Madagascar	10.50
177	Chad	10.00
178	Malawi	9.86
179	Mali	9.28
180	Laos	8.89
181	Djibouti	8.85
182	Ethiopia	7.65
183	Niger	7.48
184	Burundi	5.83
185	Timor-Leste	5.82
186	South Sudan	2.02

Analysis

This metric measures the share of male employment accounted for by the industry sector as a percentage of total male employment, based on modeled International Labour Organization estimates. According to the source definition, employment covers persons of working age engaged in any activity to produce goods or provide services for pay or profit, whether at work during the reference period or not at work due to temporary absence from a job or working-time arrangement. The industry sector consists of mining and quarrying, manufacturing, construction, and public utilities (electricity, gas, and water). The unit is percentage of male employment. Data covers 186 countries, all with data from the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. The indicator code is SL.IND.EMPL.MA.ZS, sourced from the World Bank World Development Indicators for data year 2025.

The top of the ranking is dominated by Central and Eastern European economies alongside Gulf states. The Slovak Republic ranks first at 47.55%, followed by Czechia at 46.31% and Qatar at 45.51%. Slovenia ranks sixth at 42.95%, Belarus seventh at 42.34%, and Poland ninth at 41.37%. Hungary (rank 10, 41.25%) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (rank 11, 41.14%) round out the top tier. Guyana (rank 4, 43.81%) and Oman (rank 5, 43.34%) are notable non-European entries in the top five, reflecting heavy reliance on extractive and construction industries within their male workforces.

The middle of the ranking includes major economies with more diversified labor markets. Germany ranks 17th at 37.45%, while the United States sits at rank 73 with 27.87% and the United Kingdom at rank 113 with 23.93%. Singapore, often associated with manufacturing, ranks 151st at just 17.23%, placing it among the lower tier. Luxembourg ranks 168th at 12.36%, consistent with its finance-dominated economy. At the bottom, Timor-Leste ranks 185th at 5.82% and South Sudan last at 2.02%, indicating that male employment in these countries is overwhelmingly outside the industry sector. Notably, four extreme outliers were identified using a 3-standard-deviation threshold in the viability checks.

Several limitations apply to this metric. Modeled ILO estimates are used for many countries, meaning figures are not always drawn directly from national surveys and may incorporate statistical imputation. The industrial sector definition excludes agriculture and services, so a low rank may reflect a large agricultural or services workforce rather than an absence of industrial activity. The metric captures shares, not absolute numbers, so a country with a small industrial sector relative to a large service sector may rank lower despite having significant industrial employment in absolute terms. Comparability across countries can also be affected by differences in national labor force survey methodologies and reference periods.

Methodology

Data is drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code SL.IND.EMPL.MA.ZS, for data year 2025. The metric is defined using modeled International Labour Organization estimates. Employment is defined as persons of working age who were engaged in any activity to produce goods or provide services for pay or profit, whether at work during the reference period or not at work due to temporary absence from a job, or to working-time arrangement. The industry sector consists of mining and quarrying, manufacturing, construction, and public utilities (electricity, gas, and water). The ranking covers 186 countries, all meeting the recency threshold with data from the last seven years (100% recency rate). Data quality is 100% official. Four extreme outliers were identified at the 3-standard-deviation threshold. The value range spans 2.02% (South Sudan) to 47.55% (Slovak Republic), a spread of 2253.4%. Average year-over-year change across the dataset is 2.4%, indicating high stability. Coverage of 181 out of 186 countries (97.3%) uses the latest reference year.

Sources

World Bank