Italy
IT desk: Italy first; euro area, Germany, France, United Kingdom and United States alongside.
−0.21 pp
As of 2025 | % of population ages 15+
| Year | Value |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 46.15% |
| 2024 | 46.37% |
| 2023 | 46.00% |
| 2022 | 45.08% |
| 2021 | 43.84% |
| 2020 | 43.78% |
| 2019 | 44.69% |
| 2018 | 44.39% |
| 2017 | 43.95% |
| 2016 | 43.42% |
| 2015 | 42.84% |
| 2014 | 42.55% |
| 2013 | 42.60% |
| 2012 | 43.61% |
| 2011 | 43.88% |
| 2010 | 43.98% |
| 2009 | 44.54% |
| 2008 | 45.63% |
| 2007 | 45.63% |
| 2006 | 45.57% |
| 2005 | 45.13% |
| 2004 | 45.60% |
| 2003 | 44.31% |
| 2002 | 43.80% |
The employment-to-population ratio is employed people as a percent of the population ages 15+ (SL.EMP.TOTL.SP.ZS). It does not condition on being in the labour force. Latest: 46.15% in 2025.
It moves with both jobs and demography. From 1991 to 2025 (35 years): mean 43.89%, median 43.88%; low 41.40% (1995), high 46.37% (2024).
Source: World Bank Open Data. Licence: CC BY 4.0 (terms).
This series is the employment-to-population ratio for people aged 15 and over: the share of that population who are employed. The source is World Bank Open Data indicator SL.EMP.TOTL.SP.ZS, an ILO modelled estimate. It is not the unemployment rate. Students, retirees, people looking after a household and others outside the labour force are all in the denominator, so the ratio can fall even when unemployment is unchanged. The ratio also treats each employed person alike, whether they work an hour a week or a full year.
The indicator is modelled from national labour-force surveys and censuses and is revised when those inputs change. Population age structure and retirement ages differ between economies, so levels are not directly equivalent. The chart shows selected economies over the years you choose, and the ranked ledger shows each economy’s latest published year. Read the direction of travel and the broad level; small differences between neighbouring economies sit within the uncertainty of the estimates. Read it with the participation rate for context.
The Italy desk puts Italy first and sets the euro area, Germany, France, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States alongside, plus other euro-area members where a series covers them. The numbers are the same World Bank ILO modelled estimates used on the all-countries pages, filtered to this desk, with nothing recalculated. Taiwan appears only on the headline unemployment page, filled from the IMF World Economic Outlook because the World Bank does not publish a Taiwanese rate.
Switch desks with the Country selector, view the same values through the Chart and Table tabs, and change the period with the range buttons. Every page names its indicator, source and licence. The euro-area aggregate is a weighted series of member states, so its path can differ from Italy’s own national series shown beside it. No value is estimated for Italy beyond what the source publishes.