How agriculture’s share of jobs changed across eight East African countries

A falling share can coexist with more farm jobs

Agriculture’s percentage measures how employment is divided between sectors. The share can fall if employment in other sectors grows faster, even while the number of workers in agriculture rises. Counts of workers are a separate measure. Source 1 Source 3

Where the long-run change was largest

Among the eight countries, Rwanda had the largest estimated decline from 2000 to 2023, from 79.05% to 51.87%. Burundi went from 91.94% to 85.59% over the same span. The interactive figure switches years on the same percentage scale. Source 2

Why 2023 is the comparison year

South Sudan has figures through 2023 in this extract. The other seven extend through 2025. Using 2023 for the chart keeps a shared reference year while the table preserves later observations. Source 2

Read abrupt changes alongside surveys

Rwanda’s series moves from 51.87% in 2023 to 36.50% in 2024. The table shows that movement in the modelled estimates. The series alone cannot identify how much of the change reflects labour-market shifts or changes in the underlying inputs. Source 2 Source 3

Sources

• ILO modelled agricultural employment series at World Development Indicators
• World Bank API, checked country-year observations
• ILOSTAT overview of ILO modelled estimates