The Employment-to-population ratio is a statistical ratio which measures the proportion of the country's working-age population that is employed.
Use
The ratio is used to evaluate the ability of the economy to create jobs and therefore is used in conjunction with the unemployment rate and the employment rate for a general evaluation of the labour market stance. Unemployment occurs when a person is available to work and currently seeking work but the person is without work. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development defines the employment rate as the percentage of the working age population (ages 15 to 64 in most OECD countries Having a high ratio means that an important proportion of the population in working age is employed, which in general will have positive effects on the GDP per head. Nevertheless, the ratio does not give an indication of working conditions, number of hours worked per person, earnings or the size of the black market. Therefore, the analysis of the labour market must be done in conjunction with other statistics.
To calculate the Employment-to-population ratio, one must first calculate the number of individuals in working-age, that is, over 15 years, and collect data on the number of employed people.
Employment-to-population ratio in the world
In general, a high ratio is considered to be above 70 percent of the working-age population whereas a ratio below 50 percent is considered to be low. The economies with low ratios are generally situated in the Middle East and North Africa. The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. North Africa or Northern Africa is the Northernmost Region of the African Continent, separated by the Sahara from Sub-Saharan
Employment-to-population ratios are typically higher for men than for women. Nevertheless, in the past decades, the ratios tended to fall for men and increase in the case of women, which made the differences between both to be reduced.
| Country | 1994 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 66. 0 | 69. 0 | 69. 4 | 70. 0 | 70. 3 | 71. 6 |
| Austria | 68. 3 | 68. 0 | 68. 5 | 68. 7 | 67. 8 | 68. 6 |
| Belgium | 55. 7 | 59. 7 | 59. 7 | 59. 3 | 60. 5 | 61. 0 |
| Canada | 67. 0 | 70. 8 | 71. 4 | 72. 2 | 72. 5 | 72. 5 |
| Czech Republic | 69. 2 | 65. 3 | 65. 7 | 64. 9 | 64. 2 | 64. 8 |
| Denmark | 72. 4 | 75. 9 | 76. 4 | 75. 1 | 76. 0 | 75. 5 |
| Finland | 59. 9 | 67. 7 | 67. 7 | 67. 4 | 67. 2 | 68. 0 |
| France | 58. 4 | 62. 0 | 62. 2 | 62. 5 | 62. 4 | 62. 3 |
| Germany | 64. 5 | 65. 8 | 65. 3 | 64. 6 | 65. 0 | 65. 5 |
| Greece | 54. 1 | 55. 6 | 57. 7 | 58. 9 | 59. 6 | 60. 3 |
| Hungary | 53. 5 | 56. 2 | 56. 2 | 57. 0 | 56. 8 | 56. 9 |
| Iceland | 78. 5 | 84. 6 | 82. 8 | 84. 1 | 82. 8 | 84. 4 |
| Ireland | 51. 9 | 65. 0 | 65. 0 | 65. 0 | 65. 5 | 67. 1 |
| Italy | 51. 5 | 54. 9 | 55. 6 | 56. 2 | 57. 4 | 57. 5 |
| Japan | 69. 3 | 68. 8 | 68. 2 | 68. 4 | 68. 7 | 69. 3 |
| Korea | 62. 8 | 62. 1 | 63. 3 | 63. 0 | 63. 6 | 63. 7 |
| Luxembourg | 60. 2 | 63. 0 | 63. 6 | 62. 7 | 62. 6 | 63. 6 |
| Mexico | 58. 7 | 60. 1 | 60. 1 | 59. 6 | 60. 8 | 59. 6 |
| Netherlands | 63. 9 | 72. 8 | 73. 1 | 72. 7 | 72. 0 | . . |
| New Zealand | 68. 0 | 71. 8 | 72. 4 | 72. 5 | 73. 5 | 74. 6 |
| Norway | 72. 2 | 77. 5 | 77. 1 | 75. 8 | 75. 6 | 75. 2 |
| Poland | 58. 3 | 53. 5 | 51. 7 | 51. 4 | 51. 9 | 53. 0 |
| Portugal | 64. 0 | 68. 6 | 68. 1 | 67. 1 | 67. 8 | 67. 5 |
| Slovak Republic | 59. 8 | 56. 9 | 56. 9 | 57. 7 | 57. 0 | 57. 7 |
| Spain | 47. 4 | 58. 8 | 59. 5 | 60. 7 | 62. 0 | 64. 3 |
| Sweden | 71. 5 | 75. 2 | 74. 9 | 74. 3 | 73. 5 | . . |
| Switzerland | 75. 6 | 79. 2 | 78. 9 | 77. 9 | 77. 4 | 77. 2 |
| Turkey | 52. 4 | 47. 8 | 46. 7 | 45. 5 | 46. 1 | 45. 9 |
| United Kingdom | 68. 7 | 72. 5 | 72. 3 | 72. 6 | 72. 7 | 72. 6 |
| United States | 72. 0 | 73. 1 | 71. 9 | 71. 2 | 71. 2 | 71. 5 |
| EU-15 | 59. 9 | 64. 1 | 64. 3 | 64. 4 | 64. 9 | 65. 4 |
| EU-19 | 59. 9 | 62. 9 | 62. 9 | 63. 0 | 63. 5 | 64. 0 |
| OECD Europe | 59. 4 | 61. 4 | 61. 2 | 61. 1 | 61. 5 | 61. 9 |
| Total OECD | 64. 0 | 65. 5 | 65. 1 | 64. 9 | 65. 3 | 65. 5 |
Source: OECD Employment Outlook 2006. Statistical Annex, p. 248. [1]