ILO modelled estimates put Tanzania’s 2025 labour force participation at 80.28% for women and 87.31% for men. Women in Burundi had a higher estimated participation rate than men, the only such result among the seven countries with a matched 2025 pair.
Sources checked
Rift & Coast Editorial Team
Labour force participationParticipation by sex in seven countries in 2025
Women aged 15 and older
Shared scale · 0% to 87.31%
Burundi79.5%
Ethiopia58.46%
Kenya63.04%
Rwanda57.3%
Somalia20.7%
Tanzania80.28%
Uganda75.59%
Men aged 15 and older
Shared scale · 0% to 87.31%
Burundi76.97%
Ethiopia78.64%
Kenya71.85%
Rwanda70.61%
Somalia47.24%
Tanzania87.31%
Uganda84.64%
Switch between women’s and men’s rates. Both use the same percentage scale.
The labour force includes employed people and people classified as unemployed. Participation divides that number by the working-age population. A separate employment-to-population ratio counts only people who are employed in the numerator. Source 3
The two rates matter more than the gap alone
Somalia’s 2025 estimates were 20.70% for women and 47.24% for men. In Uganda they were 75.59% and 84.64%. In each case the difference uses the same operation, while the underlying rates show very different levels of participation. Source 1Source 2
Burundi’s gap runs in the other direction
Burundi’s women’s rate of 79.50% was 2.53 percentage points above the men’s estimate of 76.97%. The modelled series shows a higher women’s point estimate there in 2023 and 2024 as well. The rate measures participation. Earnings, hours and job quality have separate indicators. Source 1Source 2Source 3
The chart uses the same year for every country
South Sudan’s most recent pair in this extract is from 2023, when the model put the rates at 70.39% for women and 76.64% for men. Those values are in the table. The chart includes seven countries with both rates for 2025. Source 1Source 2