Burkina Faso: Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) (national estimate)

Key figures

Since 1975 it is up 78.48 percentage points from 3.35% in 1975. The World Bank has no value for 37 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

How it compares

In 2025, Burkina Faso had the 43rd highest value of the 83 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Burkina Faso in the 2025 ranking

• Zimbabwe — 39th of 83: 83.59%
• St. Lucia — 40th of 83: 83.48%
• Slovak Republic — 41st of 83: 82.85%
• Czechia — 43rd of 83: 81.81%
• Hungary — 44th of 83: 80.88%
• Russian Federation — 45th of 83: 80.05%

What this measures

Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate is the proportion of female labor force participation relative to male labor force participation. The labor force participation rate is the labor force as a percent of the population ages 15 and older. The labor force is the sum of all persons of working age who are employed and those who are unemployed.

Limitations: Data on the labor force are compiled by the ILO from labor force surveys, censuses, and establishment censuses and surveys. For some countries a combination of these sources is used. Labor force surveys are the most comprehensive source for internationally comparable labor force data. They can cover all non-institutionalized civilians, all branches and sectors of the economy, and all categories of workers, including people holding multiple jobs. By contrast, labor force data from population censuses are often based on a limited number of questions on the economic characteristics of individuals, with little scope to probe.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 14 values

Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) (national estimate) in nearby economies

• Angola — 97.97% (2025)
• Benin — 95.75% (2022)
• Botswana — 88.86% (2024)
• Burundi — 99.13% (2020)
• Cameroon — 77.45% (2021)
• Côte d'Ivoire — 78.89% (2022)
• Ghana — 97.21% (2025)
• Lesotho — 77.82% (2024)

More social protection & labor data for Burkina Faso

• Net migration — -27,130 (2025)
• Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asylum — 40,996 (2025)
• Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of origin — 351,209 (2025)
• Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, female (%) (modeled ILO estimate) — 45.27% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, male (%) (modeled ILO estimate) — 58.12% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, total (%) (modeled ILO estimate) — 51.77% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15-64) (modeled ILO estimate) — 65.5% (2025)

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Questions people ask

What is Burkina Faso's ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) (national estimate)?

81.83% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1975?

It is up 78.48 percentage points from 3.35% in 1975. The highest value was 94.55% in 2007 and the lowest 3.35% in 1975.

How does Burkina Faso rank?

43rd highest of 83 economies with data for 2025.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO), uri: https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/bulk/, publisher: ILOSTAT, type: estimates based on external database; Staff estimates, World Bank (WB).

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SL.TLF.CACT.FM.NE.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO), uri: https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/bulk/, publisher: ILOSTAT, type: estimates based on external database; Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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