Italy
IT desk: Italy first; euro area, Germany, France, United Kingdom and United States alongside.
−0.29 pp
As of 2025 | % of population ages 15+
| Year | Value |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 49.30% |
| 2024 | 49.59% |
| 2023 | 49.80% |
| 2022 | 49.03% |
| 2021 | 48.44% |
| 2020 | 48.22% |
| 2019 | 49.59% |
| 2018 | 49.62% |
| 2017 | 49.50% |
| 2016 | 49.16% |
| 2015 | 48.62% |
| 2014 | 48.73% |
| 2013 | 48.49% |
| 2012 | 48.81% |
| 2011 | 47.88% |
| 2010 | 47.99% |
| 2009 | 48.28% |
| 2008 | 48.92% |
| 2007 | 48.58% |
| 2006 | 48.88% |
| 2005 | 48.92% |
| 2004 | 49.49% |
| 2003 | 48.62% |
| 2002 | 48.24% |
Labour force participation is the share of people ages 15 and over who are employed or unemployed (SL.TLF.CACT.ZS). It is not the unemployment rate. Latest: 49.30% in 2025.
A falling unemployment rate can coincide with people leaving the labour force. This series is the usual check. From 1990 to 2025 (36 years): mean 48.59%, median 48.60%; low 46.87% (1995), high 50.33% (1991).
Source: World Bank Open Data. Licence: CC BY 4.0 (terms).
This series is the labour-force participation rate for people aged 15 and over: the share who are either employed or unemployed and looking for work. The source is World Bank Open Data indicator SL.TLF.CACT.ZS, an ILO modelled estimate. It measures who is in the labour market, not what they earn, and it is not the same as the employment ratio: unemployed people count in the numerator here but not there.
Participation reflects retirement ages, education, caring responsibilities and social norms as well as job availability, so levels differ for reasons that have little to do with the unemployment rate. The series is modelled from national surveys and censuses and is revised periodically. Use the chart and range buttons to follow one economy and the ranked ledger to compare latest published years. Treat small cross-country gaps with caution, because the estimate carries uncertainty where survey coverage is thin. A fall can mean people left the labour force rather than lost work, so read it with the unemployment rate.
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.