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Data

Share of the labor force employed in agriculture

About this data

Source
International Labor Organization and historical sources (2024) – processed by Our World in Data
Last updated
January 3, 2024
Date range
1300–2019
Unit
%

Sources and processing

This data is based on the following sources

International Labor Organization and historical sources – Shares and numbers employed by sector

This dataset was constructed by Our World in Data based on the primary dataset on labor force participation, published by the International Labor Organization (via the World Bank). This publishes data on labor statistics since 1991.

Data prior to 1991 has been compiled from various historical reconstructions. The sources for this dataset are described in detail here: https://ourworldindata.org/agri-employment-sources

Retrieved on
January 3, 2024
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.
International Labor Organization (via the World Bank) and historical sources, compiled by Our World in Data (2024).

This dataset was constructed by Our World in Data based on the primary dataset on labor force participation, published by the International Labor Organization (via the World Bank). This publishes data on labor statistics since 1991.

Data prior to 1991 has been compiled from various historical reconstructions. The sources for this dataset are described in detail here: https://ourworldindata.org/agri-employment-sources

Retrieved on
January 3, 2024
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.
International Labor Organization (via the World Bank) and historical sources, compiled by Our World in Data (2024).

How we process data at Our World in Data

All data and visualizations on Our World in Data rely on data sourced from one or several original data providers. Preparing this original data involves several processing steps. Depending on the data, this can include standardizing country names and world region definitions, converting units, calculating derived indicators such as per capita measures, as well as adding or adapting metadata such as the name or the description given to an indicator.

At the link below you can find a detailed description of the structure of our data pipeline, including links to all the code used to prepare data across Our World in Data.

Read about our data pipeline

Reuse this work

  • All data produced by third-party providers and made available by Our World in Data are subject to the license terms from the original providers. Our work would not be possible without the data providers we rely on, so we ask you to always cite them appropriately (see below). This is crucial to allow data providers to continue doing their work, enhancing, maintaining and updating valuable data.
  • All data, visualizations, and code produced by Our World in Data are completely open access under the Creative Commons BY license. You have the permission to use, distribute, and reproduce these in any medium, provided the source and authors are credited.

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 of the labor force employed in agriculture”. Our World in Data (2026). Data adapted from International Labor Organization and historical sources. Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260512-085513/grapher/share-of-the-labor-force-employed-in-agriculture.html [online resource] (archived on May 12, 2026).

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:

International Labor Organization and historical sources (2024) – processed by Our World in Data

Full citation

International Labor Organization and historical sources (2024) – processed by Our World in Data. “Share of the labor force employed in agriculture” [dataset]. International Labor Organization and historical sources, “Shares and numbers employed by sector” [original data]. Retrieved May 12, 2026 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260512-085513/grapher/share-of-the-labor-force-employed-in-agriculture.html (archived on May 12, 2026).

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