The leading source of labour statistics

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Statistics on the population and labour force

Statistics on the population and labour force describe the size and composition of the population of working age and those actively engaged in the labour market. ILOSTAT presents data on labour force participation and related indicators used to analyse labour supply across countries.

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Analytical publications

Note: Many publications are available only in English. If available in other languages, a new page will open displaying these options. 
The State of Social Justice 2025
September 24, 2025

This report evaluates key indicators used to measure the global progress and ongoing challenges in achieving social justice, building on the premise of the ILO

Methods
ICLS documents

Find resolutions, guidelines, meeting room documents and reports related to the International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS).
Concepts and definitions

Database descriptions, statistical standards (resolutions and guidelines), and guides and manuals – all the metadata to better understand the labour statistics presented on ILOSTAT.
Quick guide on the communication of results after implementation of latest standards on statistics of work, employment, and labour underutilization
December 18, 2024

A crucial aspect of the implementation of latest labour statistics standards is the effective communication of the results, to ensure getting the best out of the data. This guide aims to provide practical data visualization examples to convey clearly and intuitively the impact of methodological changes on key labour indicators following the implementation of the 19th ICLS resolution and avoid misinterpretation of the results.
Survey Questions for Collecting Data on Work Relationships and Informality
December 9, 2024

This document provides recommended survey questions for collecting data on work relationships (ICSE-18), informal employment, and the classification of economic units across three sectors: informal, formal, and household own-use production and community sector. (HOC). It incorporates the 20th ICLS resolution on work relationships (ICSE-18) and the 21st ICLS resolution on statistics for the informal economy.
ILOSTAT Microdata Processing Quick Guide: Principles and methods underlying the ILO’s processing of anonymized household survey microdata
September 26, 2024

This Quick Guide (last updated in September 2024) presents the anonymized microdata processing undertaken by the Data Production and Analysis Unit in the ILO Department of Statistics. It describes why and how the unit carries out this activity, as well as the potential expansion of this work. It also mentions considerations and limitations to take into account by data users.
Own-use provision of services: Measurement guide
November 1, 2023

This guide provides guidance on implementing the ILO add-on module for own-use provision of services (OPS) in national labour force surveys. It is aimed at low- and middle-income countries and is designed to support NSOs to produce statistics on OPS when resource constraints or other considerations impede an independent time-use survey.

COVID-19 impact on labour market statistics
May 11, 2020

The restrictions necessary to combat COVID-19 pose a huge obstacle to data collection operations, precisely when there is a massive increase in demand for information. The ILO reached out to national data producers to understand the impacts of the pandemic on their statistical operations particularly in the domain of labour statistics. Last update: May 2020
Guidance to data producers to maintain labour force survey data collection
April 29, 2020

The most immediate impact of the pandemic on LFS data collection for most countries is the suspension of face-to-face interviewing. This note provides guidance to countries on the range of options available and challenges to deal with in order to change their data collection approach and maintain continuity in data availability.

See also

Related pages

Calendar

See the upcoming schedule for major events, training and workshops in labour statistics.

Concepts and definitions

Database descriptions, statistical standards (resolutions and guidelines), and guides and manuals – all the metadata to better understand the labour statistics presented on ILOSTAT.

Population Census resources

Online resources for data producers to improve their population census to be in line with the latest international statistical standards for labour.

LFS questionnaire viewer

This viewer allows users to take a close look at questions in the ILO model LFS questionnaires for PAPI.

ICLS documents

Find resolutions, guidelines, meeting room documents and reports related to the International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS).

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