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Data

Share in vulnerable employment

ILO

What you should know about this indicator

  • Employment refers to all persons of working age who, during a specified brief period, were in paid employment or self-employment.
  • Own-account workers are defined as workers working on self-employment jobs who do not engage any employees to work with them.
  • Contributing family workers are defined as workers working on self-employment jobs who work in an enterprise operated by a related person living in the same household.
  • These statuses in employment are provided according to the International Standard Classification of Status in Employment (ICSE-93).
  • This data is part of the ILO Modelled Estimates series. This series combines nationally reported observations with imputed data to have a harmonized, internationally comparable dataset and produce regional and global aggregates. For more information, please refer to the ILO Modelled Estimates documentation.
  • This data is classified according to the 13th International Classification of Labour Statistics (ICLS), where employment includes anyone engaged for at least one hour per day in production of goods and services, even for own use by the household or family, volunteering, or other forms of unpaid work. For more information, please refer to the this explainer by the International Labour Organization.

How is this data described by its producer - ILO?

Vulnerable employment is contributing family workers and own-account workers as a percentage of total employment.

Limitations and exceptions:

Data are drawn from labor force surveys and household surveys, supplemented by official estimates and censuses for a small group of countries. Due to differences in definitions and coverage across countries, there are limitations for comparing data across countries and over time even within a country. Estimates of women in employment are not comparable internationally, reflecting that demographic, social, legal, and cultural trends and norms determine whether women's activities are regarded as economic.

Statistical concept and methodology:

The status in employment distinguishes between two categories of the total employed: (a) wage and salaried workers (also known as employees); and (b) self-employed workers, with the subcategories: (i) self-employed workers with employees (employers), (ii) self-employed workers without employees (own-account workers), and (iii) members of producers' cooperatives and contributing family workers (also known as unpaid family workers). Vulnerable employment refers to the sum of (ii) own-account workers and (iii) contributing family workers.

The series is part of the "ILO modeled estimates database," including nationally reported observations and imputed data for countries with missing data, primarily to capture regional and global trends with consistent country coverage. Country-reported microdata is based mainly on nationally representative labor force surveys, with other sources (e.g., household surveys and population censuses) considering differences in the data source, the scope of coverage, methodology, and other country-specific factors. Country analysis requires caution where limited nationally reported data are available. A series of models are also applied to impute missing observations and make projections. However, imputed observations are not based on national data, are subject to high uncertainty, and should not be used for country comparisons or rankings. For more information: https://ilostat.ilo.org/resources/concepts-and-definitions/ilo-modelled-estimates/

Notes from original source:

Given the exceptional situation, including the scarcity of relevant data, the ILO modeled estimates and projections from 2020 onwards are subject to substantial uncertainty.

Share in vulnerable employment
ILO
Share of employed population who are working as own-account workers (self-employed without staff), or contributing family workers (self-employed in a household business or farm).
Source
World Bank and International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT (2025) – processed by Our World in Data
Last updated
September 8, 2025
Next expected update
September 2026
Date range
1991–2023
Unit
%

What you should know about this indicator

  • Employment refers to all persons of working age who, during a specified brief period, were in paid employment or self-employment.
  • Own-account workers are defined as workers working on self-employment jobs who do not engage any employees to work with them.
  • Contributing family workers are defined as workers working on self-employment jobs who work in an enterprise operated by a related person living in the same household.
  • These statuses in employment are provided according to the International Standard Classification of Status in Employment (ICSE-93).
  • This data is part of the ILO Modelled Estimates series. This series combines nationally reported observations with imputed data to have a harmonized, internationally comparable dataset and produce regional and global aggregates. For more information, please refer to the ILO Modelled Estimates documentation.
  • This data is classified according to the 13th International Classification of Labour Statistics (ICLS), where employment includes anyone engaged for at least one hour per day in production of goods and services, even for own use by the household or family, volunteering, or other forms of unpaid work. For more information, please refer to the this explainer by the International Labour Organization.

How is this data described by its producer - ILO?

Vulnerable employment is contributing family workers and own-account workers as a percentage of total employment.

Limitations and exceptions:

Data are drawn from labor force surveys and household surveys, supplemented by official estimates and censuses for a small group of countries. Due to differences in definitions and coverage across countries, there are limitations for comparing data across countries and over time even within a country. Estimates of women in employment are not comparable internationally, reflecting that demographic, social, legal, and cultural trends and norms determine whether women's activities are regarded as economic.

Statistical concept and methodology:

The status in employment distinguishes between two categories of the total employed: (a) wage and salaried workers (also known as employees); and (b) self-employed workers, with the subcategories: (i) self-employed workers with employees (employers), (ii) self-employed workers without employees (own-account workers), and (iii) members of producers' cooperatives and contributing family workers (also known as unpaid family workers). Vulnerable employment refers to the sum of (ii) own-account workers and (iii) contributing family workers.

The series is part of the "ILO modeled estimates database," including nationally reported observations and imputed data for countries with missing data, primarily to capture regional and global trends with consistent country coverage. Country-reported microdata is based mainly on nationally representative labor force surveys, with other sources (e.g., household surveys and population censuses) considering differences in the data source, the scope of coverage, methodology, and other country-specific factors. Country analysis requires caution where limited nationally reported data are available. A series of models are also applied to impute missing observations and make projections. However, imputed observations are not based on national data, are subject to high uncertainty, and should not be used for country comparisons or rankings. For more information: https://ilostat.ilo.org/resources/concepts-and-definitions/ilo-modelled-estimates/

Notes from original source:

Given the exceptional situation, including the scarcity of relevant data, the ILO modeled estimates and projections from 2020 onwards are subject to substantial uncertainty.

Share in vulnerable employment
ILO
Share of employed population who are working as own-account workers (self-employed without staff), or contributing family workers (self-employed in a household business or farm).
Source
World Bank and International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT (2025) – processed by Our World in Data
Last updated
September 8, 2025
Next expected update
September 2026
Date range
1991–2023
Unit
%

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

World Bank and International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT – World Development Indicators

The World Development Indicators (WDI) is the primary World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially-recognized international sources. It presents the most current and accurate global development data available, and includes national, regional and global estimates.

Retrieved on
September 8, 2025
Retrieved from
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.EMP.VULN.ZS
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
World Bank, World Development Indicators database. Estimates are based on data obtained from International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT at https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/. Indicator SL.EMP.VULN.ZS (https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.EMP.VULN.ZS). World Development Indicators - World Bank (2025). Accessed on 2025-09-08.

The World Development Indicators (WDI) is the primary World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially-recognized international sources. It presents the most current and accurate global development data available, and includes national, regional and global estimates.

Retrieved on
September 8, 2025
Retrieved from
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.EMP.VULN.ZS
Citation
This is the citation of the original data obtained from the source, prior to any processing or adaptation by Our World in Data. To cite data downloaded from this page, please use the suggested citation given in Reuse This Work below.
World Bank, World Development Indicators database. Estimates are based on data obtained from International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT at https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/. Indicator SL.EMP.VULN.ZS (https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.EMP.VULN.ZS). World Development Indicators - World Bank (2025). Accessed on 2025-09-08.

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Citations

How to cite this page

To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:

“Data Page: Share in vulnerable employment”. Our World in Data (2025). Data adapted from World Bank and International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT. Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20250926-154249/grapher/share-in-vulnerable-employment.html [online resource] (archived on September 26, 2025).
How to cite this data

In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:

World Bank and International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT (2025) – processed by Our World in Data

Full citation

World Bank and International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT (2025) – processed by Our World in Data. “Share in vulnerable employment – ILO” [dataset]. World Bank and International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT, “World Development Indicators 122” [original data]. Retrieved September 26, 2025 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20250926-154249/grapher/share-in-vulnerable-employment.html (archived on September 26, 2025).