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

Key figures

Since 1975 it is up 5.06 percentage points from 76.05% in 1975. The World Bank has no value for 39 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

How it compares

In 2024, Malawi had the 9th highest value of the 24 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 Malawi in the 2024 ranking

• Viet Nam — 5th of 24: 88.35%
• Zambia — 6th of 24: 82.88%
• Albania — 7th of 24: 81.88%
• Montenegro — 9th of 24: 80.78%
• South Africa — 10th of 24: 80.6%
• Lesotho — 11th of 24: 77.82%

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 11 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)
• Burkina Faso — 81.83% (2025)
• Burundi — 99.13% (2020)
• Cameroon — 77.45% (2021)
• Côte d'Ivoire — 78.89% (2022)
• Ghana — 97.21% (2025)

More social protection & labor data for Malawi

• Net migration — -5,628 (2025)
• Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of origin — 551 (2025)
• Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asylum — 35,241 (2025)
• Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, female (%) (modeled ILO estimate) — 43.7% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, male (%) (modeled ILO estimate) — 48.77% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, total (%) (modeled ILO estimate) — 46.21% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15-64) (modeled ILO estimate) — 58.96% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15-64) (modeled ILO estimate)

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Questions people ask

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

81.11% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1975?

It is up 5.06 percentage points from 76.05% in 1975. The highest value was 98.88% in 2004 and the lowest 76.05% in 1975.

How does Malawi rank?

9th highest of 24 economies with data for 2024.

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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