Table of Contents
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Introduction
Working poverty statistics measure the proportion of employed persons living in households below international poverty lines. ILOSTAT data support cross-country analysis of poverty among the employed.
Data catalogue
| Indicator | Frequency | Database | Subject | Download (with labels) | Download (with codes) | Data explorer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SDG indicator 1.1.1 - Working poverty rate (percentage of employed living below US$3 PPP) (%) | Annual | SDG Labour Market Indicators (ILOSDG) | Working poverty | .csv .dta .xlsx | .csv.gz | |
| Employment by sex, age and economic class -- ILO modelled estimates, Nov. 2025 (thousands) | Annual | ILO Modelled Estimates (ILOEST) | Working poverty | .csv .dta .xlsx | .csv.gz |
Latest posts
Methods
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.
Employment and economic class in the developing world
This paper introduces a model for generating national estimates and projections of the distribution of the employed across five economic classes for 142 developing countries over the period 1991 to 2017. The national estimates are used to produce aggregate estimates for eight developing regions and for the developing world as a whole.
Publications
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The working poor… or how a job is no guarantee of decent living conditions
This issue of ILOSTAT’s Spotlight on work statistics focuses on employed people living in extreme poverty around the world. Using ILO’s global estimates of employment by economic class, it shows the great progress achieved during the last few decades in reducing working poverty in the world, and how more effort is still needed to completely eradicate it, particularly considering the strong regional disparities.