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

Ranking 2025

Values shown in %.

Analysis

This metric measures the share of total employment accounted for by industry, expressed as a percentage. According to the World Bank World Development Indicators (indicator SL.IND.EMPL.ZS), employment covers 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). Agriculture and services employment are excluded. The dataset covers 186 countries, all with data from within the last seven years, and 100% of data points are classified as official-quality. Seven extreme outliers were identified at the 3-sigma threshold.

The top of the ranking is dominated by Gulf states and Central European manufacturing economies. Oman leads at 39.44% (rank 1), followed by Qatar at 38.02% (rank 2) and Bahrain at 34.91% (rank 3). Czechia sits at rank 4 with 34.89%, and Viet Nam ranks 5th at 34.83%. Iran (rank 6, 34.70%), the Slovak Republic (rank 7, 34.53%), Tunisia (rank 8, 33.28%), Lesotho (rank 9, 33.04%), and Romania (rank 10, 32.57%) round out the top ten. High shares reflect economies where mining, construction, manufacturing, or utilities account for a large portion of total employment.

In the middle of the distribution, large economies cluster between roughly 18% and 26%. The United States ranks 93rd at 18.91%, Germany ranks 37th at 25.97%, and Japan ranks 54th at 23.23%. Notably, Luxembourg ranks 175th at just 7.64%, despite being a high-income economy, reflecting its heavily service-oriented workforce. At the lower end, Timor-Leste ranks 184th at 3.80%, Burundi ranks 185th at 3.10%, and South Sudan ranks last at 1.67%. Several sub-Saharan African countries cluster near the bottom, consistent with large agricultural employment shares leaving relatively little room for industry.

Modeled ILO estimates introduce uncertainty for countries with limited direct survey data, as values are derived from statistical models rather than observed measurements. The metric does not distinguish between formal and informal employment within industry, which can be substantial in lower-income countries. Construction and manufacturing are aggregated with utilities and extractive industries, so a high rank may reflect dominance of any one of these sub-sectors rather than broad industrial development. Year-to-year volatility is low on average at 2.3%, but individual country estimates can shift based on model revisions rather than actual labor market changes. Coverage is high at 97.3% of countries reporting for the latest year, limiting but not eliminating comparability concerns.

Methodology

Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code SL.IND.EMPL.ZS, with a reference data year of 2025. The metric is defined as employment in industry as a percentage of total employment, using modeled ILO estimates. Per the source definition, 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 of data within the last seven years. All 186 countries (100%) have data from the last seven years, and 100% of data points are rated as official quality. Seven extreme outliers were flagged at the 3-sigma threshold. The value range spans 1.67% (South Sudan) to 39.44% (Oman), a spread of 2,258.5%. Average year-over-year change is 2.3%, indicating low volatility. Higher values indicate a greater share of total employment in the industry sector.

Sources

• World Bank