Employment in Agriculture by Country 2024

Agriculture and farming are among the world's oldest professions and industries. It's found in nearly every country on earth, but there can be tremendous differences in how significant it is to each nation's employment picture.

Even in the increasingly digital 21st century, residents of some countries remain almost entirely employed in agriculture. Burundi tops the list with 86% of people working in farming, significantly ahead of second place Madagascar at 74%. Burkina Faso (73%), Niger (71%), and Mozambique (70%) are all close behind. Twenty-five countries worldwide have half or more of their employment in the agriculture sector, overwhelmingly located in Africa. All of the top 10 are found there.

On the low end, a number of notable countries dedicate just 1% of their workforce to agriculture. These include Germany, Great Britain, Canada, Belgium, and Israel, while the United States, Australia, and the Netherlands have just 2% of workers engaged in farming. Other highly developed economies show similar numbers, like France (3%), Japan (3%), Spain (4%), Italy (4%), and South Korea (5%.) Nations with little physical territory are also low on the list, like Qatar (1%), Bahrain (1%), Malta (1%), Luxembourg (1%), and Kuwait (2%). About 70 countries have 10% or less of their workforce in the agriculture industry.

There are a handful of countries that have absolutely no agriculture whatsoever. These are Hong Kong, Singapore, and Guam. The former two are small and highly urbanized, while Guam relies primarily on U.S. military spending and tourism.

It's vital to remember that since these numbers are percentages, they don't reflect the absolute number of agriculture workers in a given country. For example, China's 24% employment in agriculture naturally has tens of millions more people than Mozambique's 70% farming employment. India likely has the largest total number of farming jobs, with 44% of the country's billion-plus population working in the field.