The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development relies on timely, comparable statistics to monitor progress across its goals and targets. The ILO is the custodian agency for 14 labour-related SDG indicators under five goals and supports countries in producing the labour statistics used for global SDG reporting.
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What are the SDGs?
The 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly. The 17 SDGs are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. They cover a broad range of social and economic development issues, including poverty, hunger, health, education, climate change, gender equality, water, sanitation, energy, the environment and social justice, with a focus on the most vulnerable and a commitment that “no one will be left behind.”
The role of decent work
Goal 8, which aims to “promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all”, highlights the importance of decent work in achieving sustainable development.
The role of statistics
The role of national statistical offices (NSOs)
High quality data (i.e., reliable, timely, consistent and comparable data) are required in order to measure and monitor progress towards the SDGs. NSOs play a pivotal role in the areas of data collection, coordination, reporting and validation of statistics for the SDGs. It is the responsibility of NSOs to provide statistics to international agencies such as the ILO to support the measurement of progress on SDGs. This includes identifying appropriate data sources and methodologies to produce the SDG indicators.
The role of the ILO Department of Statistics
The ILO contributes to five of 17 Goals. As custodian for 14 SDG indicators, the ILO is responsible for:
- Compiling national statistics from data producers
- Verifying country data and metadata and ensuring international comparability
- Developing international standards and methods for Tier 3 indicators
- Estimating global and regional aggregates
- Analysing data and identifying data gaps and key trends
- Reporting data and metadata to the UN annually and contributing to SDG progress reports
- Strengthening national capacity for producing high-quality data on SDG labour indicators
The ILO Department of Statistics is the focal point for all inputs provided to the UN Statistics Division, with key contributions from other departments and field offices.
Analytical publications
Note: Many publications are available only in English. If available in other languages, a new page will open displaying the options on the right.
Digital labour platforms: Number of platforms and workers
This brief examines the growth of digital labour platforms and provides updated estimates on the number of active platforms and workers engaged through them. It highlights persistent measurement gaps and underscores the need for internationally agreed statistical standards to improve comparability and inform policy.
Employment and Social Trends 2026
This report examines the state of global labour markets, highlighting stable headline employment alongside stalled progress in job quality and widening inequalities. The report analyses productivity, demographic and economic pressures shaping work in the year ahead and outlines the challenges to achieving more inclusive growth.
The State of Social Justice 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
World Employment and Social Outlook: May 2025 Update
The latest edition of the World Employment and Social Outlook (WESO) Trends reveals new data on job growth forecasts, shifting employment trends, income inequality, and the implications of technological change. It also explores the risks tied to rising geopolitical tensions and trade disruptions, and their ripple effects across regions and sectors.
The role of communication and dissemination in fulfilling the potential of gender-relevant work statistics
The 2013 ICLS resolution introduced a new forms-of-work framework and labour underutilization measures that significantly strengthened the gender relevance of labour statistics. This paper examines the rationale behind these standards, key challenges in their implementation, and the role of communication in maximizing their impact.
World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2025
The WESO Trends 2025 report provides an in-depth analysis of global labour market trends, highlighting the impacts of slowing economic recovery, persistent youth unemployment, and gender disparities. It examines the structural challenges facing workers worldwide and offers insights into regional and global patterns shaping the future of work.
Global Wage Report 2024-25: Is wage inequality decreasing globally?
The Global Wage Report 2024-25, provides a detailed look at wage trends around the world and in different regions, highlighting changes in wage inequality and real wage growth. It explores key challenges workers face globally and sheds light on patterns of income differences between and within countries.
The impact of care responsibilities on women’s labour force participation
This brief provides a detailed overview and analysis of the new ILO global and regional estimates of persons outside the labour force due to care responsibilities.
World Social Protection Report 2024-26: Universal social protection for climate action and a just transition
This ILO flagship report provides a global overview of progress made around the world since 2015 in extending social protection, with a sharp focus on the climate crisis and the need for climate action to transition to a more sustainable world.
Spotlight on SDG 8: The impact of marriage and children on labour market participation
This publication, drawing on a global dataset and new indicators developed by the ILO and UN Women, shows that women’s employment is shaped by domestic and caregiving responsibilities in ways that men’s is not.
Time to Act for SDG 8 : Integrating Decent Work, Sustained Growth and Environmental Integrity
The report seeks to improve understanding of SDG 8 at the empirical, conceptual and policy levels by: (a) charting empirical progress towards the 12 targets under SDG 8 and comparing performance across country income groups; (b) developing a conceptual mapping of dynamic interlinkages between SDG 8 targets and specific targets under other SDGs, and exploring on that basis major patterns of achievement in the various world regions; and (c) describing a positive spiral of policy interventions and institutional support that can enable countries to achieve SDG 8 by 2030.
Methods
Worker and sector profiles (PROFILES database)
Concise description of concepts and definitions, uses, sources and limitations of indicators in the Worker and Sector Profiles, including definitions for the groups of occupations and/or sectors recombined to create these profiles.
Occupational Safety and Health Statistics (OSH database)
Concise description of concepts and definitions, uses, sources and limitations for indicators on occupational safety and health (injuries and labour inspection).
Wages and Working Time Statistics (COND database)
Concise description of concepts and definitions, uses, sources and limitations for indicators on wages (including minimum wages) and working time.
Prices, Costs and Currency Conversions (PRICES database)
Concise description of concepts and definitions, uses, sources and limitations for statistics on consumer prices, labour costs, and currency conversion factors.
About SDG indicator 8.8.2
This page describes the methodology for SDG indicator 8.8.2, which measures the level of national compliance with freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining for all ILO member states.
Labour Force Statistics (LFS and RURBAN databases)
Concise description of concepts and definitions, uses, sources and limitations for labour force statistics in various databases (LFS, STLFS, RURBAN).
Work Statistics – 19th ICLS (WORK database)
Concise description of concepts and definitions, uses, sources and limitations for (paid and unpaid) work statistics based on the 19th ICLS standards.
Youth Labour Market Statistics (YouthSTATS database)
Concise description of concepts and definitions, uses, sources and limitations for labour force statistics focused on youth.
Disability Labour Market Indicators (DLMI database)
Concise description of concepts and definitions, uses, sources and limitations for the labour force statistics disaggregated by disability status.
Labour Market-Related SDG Indicators (ILOSDG database)
Concise description of concepts and definitions, uses, sources and limitations for labour market-related sustainable development indicators.
Gender Equality and Non-Discrimination Indicators (GEND database)
Concise description of concepts and definitions, uses, sources and limitations for indicators by household type, including presence and number of children.
ILO Modelled Estimates (ILOEST database)
Discover the methods behind the ILO’s modelled estimates on labour force statistics (including the working poor), labour productivity, wage growth and labour migration.
International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC)
ISIC is a standard classification of economic activities arranged so that entities can be classified according to the activity they carry out.
International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO)
ISCO is a statistical framework that organizes jobs into a clearly defined set of groups according to the tasks and duties undertaken in the job.
International Classifications of Status in Employment and Status at Work (ICSE and ICSaW)
See the latest international classifications for all forms of work and for employment according to type of authority and economic risk.
Unpacking informality: A multidimensional policy decomposition
This working paper presents a practical additive decomposition of informal employment, showing where policy action can reduce it. Applied to the case of Colombia, it identifies the main factors behind recent declines in informality.
Quick guide on the communication of results after implementation of latest standards on statistics of work, employment, and labour underutilization
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
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.
Note on the implementation of statistical standards from the 19th, 20th and 21st ICLS through household surveys
This note provides an overview of the requirements to apply the latest statistical standards through household surveys.
The International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO-08) companion guide
This companion guide provides guidance on the practical aspects of adapting ISCO-08 for national use or developing a national classification related to it.
International Classification of Status in Employment (ICSE-18) manual
A resolution adopted at the 20th ICLS includes a new international classification of status in employment (ICSE-18). This manual describes the revised classification, how it differs from the previous version, and how to implement it in a household survey.
Quick guide to understanding the impact of the new statistical standards on ILOSTAT databases
This quick guide explains the differences between the 13th and 19th ICLS standards, the impact of the revisions on headline indicators, and how the ILO handles this on ILOSTAT.
Strengthening gender measures and data in the COVID-19 era: An urgent need for change
This brief highlights 5 key areas where strong and decisive action is required to achieve sustainable improvement in the availability of key gender data, including in the world of work.
Quick Guide on sources and uses of statistics on occupational safety and health
This guide gives an overview of the main aspects of occupational safety and health statistics, including their relevance and uses.
Defining and measuring remote work, telework, work at home and home-based work
Working from a distance and working at home are not new phenomena but the relevance of their measurement has increased, not least due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This notes provide guidance to data producers on how the four different concepts of remote work, telework, work at home and home-based work should be statistically understood, how they relate to each other, and how they can be measured through a household survey.
Labour Market-Related SDG Indicators (ILOSDG database)
Concise description of concepts and definitions, uses, sources and limitations for labour market-related sustainable development indicators.
About SDG indicator 8.8.2
This page describes the methodology for SDG indicator 8.8.2, which measures the level of national compliance with freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining for all ILO member states.
Resolution concerning the methodology of the SDG indicator 8.8.2 on labour rights (including amendments)
Adopted by the 20th ICLS (2018), this resolution sets an internationally agreed methodology to measure indicator SDG 8.8.2 on labour rights consistent with the Resolution adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on Work of the Statistical Commission pertaining to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (A/RES/71/313), Annex taken on 6 July 2017.
Decent Work and the Sustainable Development Goals: A Guidebook on SDG Labour Market Indicators
This Guidebook provides a detailed overview of the labour market indicators included in the Sustainable Development Goals Global Indicator Framework. It is intended to serve as a manual of best practices for calculating and interpreting the SDG labour market indicators, with a view to monitoring progress made at the national and international levels towards the achievement of the SDGs.