Which Country Has the Largest Labor Force?

The labor force is a vital element of a country's economic situation, and the countries with the largest labor force in the world are China, India and the United States. With 806,300,000 workers, 501,800,000 workers and 157 100,000 workers respectively, these countries are at the top of the list.

Other countries with a world leading working population are Indonesia (122,400,000 workers), Brazil (109,200,000), Bangladesh (81,950,000), Russia (76,580,000), Japan (65,980,000), Pakistan (63,340,000) and Nigeria (57,270,000).

As countries develop and become more prosperous, the proportion of the population working in agriculture decreases. This is due to an increase in productivity that makes it possible to reduce the agricultural land needed to feed a certain number of people.

In poor countries more than two-thirds of the population works in agriculture while in rich countries this number is less than 5%.The general workforce includes groups such as the unemployed and new job seekers in addition to those who are already employed. Unpaid caregivers in the service of others as well as those who identify themselves as homemakers are not included in workforce data since they do not contribute directly to a country's gross national product. This graph shows the proportion of the labor force employed in agriculture in countries where long-term data are available. These graphs show that the importance of the agricultural sector in the economy decreases as countries get richer. Female land ownership represents less than 30 percent of total ownership for most countries. While some of the lowest rates are recorded in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, high-income countries may also have a low incidence of land ownership by women; the United States, the United Kingdom, Norway and Finland have quotas below 15 percent. The workforce is usually a group of people aged 15 or over who meet the requirements of labor organizations' definitions of the population that may be occupationally active.

Workers not only provide the labor to produce goods and provide services but they also create innovative ideas and provide the zeal that gives economies the necessary courage.