Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15+)
Share of the female population ages 15 and older that is economically active: supplying labour for the production of goods and services during a specified period (modelled ILO estimate).
Data table
| Year | Nepal (%) |
|---|---|
| 1990 | 20.63 |
| 1991 | 20.69 |
| 1992 | 20.79 |
| 1993 | 20.85 |
| 1994 | 20.84 |
| 1995 | 20.81 |
| 1996 | 20.79 |
| 1997 | 20.84 |
| 1998 | 20.95 |
| 1999 | 21.11 |
| 2000 | 21.28 |
| 2001 | 21.5 |
| 2002 | 21.72 |
| 2003 | 21.95 |
| 2004 | 22.21 |
| 2005 | 22.5 |
| 2006 | 22.83 |
| 2007 | 23.18 |
| 2008 | 23.61 |
| 2009 | 24.11 |
| 2010 | 24.65 |
| 2011 | 25.22 |
| 2012 | 25.73 |
| 2013 | 26.16 |
| 2014 | 26.57 |
| 2015 | 27.01 |
| 2016 | 27.35 |
| 2017 | 27.53 |
| 2018 | 27.63 |
| 2019 | 27.54 |
| 2020 | 27.21 |
| 2021 | 27.26 |
| 2022 | 27.24 |
| 2023 | 27.3 |
| 2024 | 27.38 |
| 2025 | 27.47 |
Per-source values, 2025
| Source | Dataset | Value | Year | Snapshot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| World Bank | WDI | 27.47 | 2025 | 2026-08-09 |
| ILOSTAT | EAP_DWAP_SEX_AGE_RT_A | 27.91 | 2017 | 2026-08-08 |
Sources currently disagree by about 0.38 percentage points for this indicator and geography. Both figures are shown below rather than one being picked as correct.
27.5–27.9 % two sources differ by 0.38 percentage points
Why do these differ, and what each source reported
ILOSTAT's EAP_DWAP_SEX_AGE_RT is the direct labour force survey estimate for women 15+, reported only in NLFS survey years; the World Bank's SL.TLF.CACT.FE.ZS is a smoothed modelled annual series. The two converge closely in 2017 (verified live: 27.9% ILOSTAT vs 27.5% WB) but diverge sharply before it -- ILOSTAT ran as high as 94% in 2003 and 78-80% through 2008-2015. This is the same real Nepal survey-methodology break noted on unemployment_rate: the pre-2017/18 NLFS rounds used an extended activity definition that counted most unpaid subsistence and household farm work by women as labour force participation, while the standard ICLS-19 definition used from 2017/18 onward does not. Expect ILOSTAT's pre-2017 values to run far above the WB series for that reason, not because women's actual participation collapsed.
World Bank Open Data (CC BY 4.0)
- Dataset
- WDI
- Snapshot
- 2026-08-09 · Fresh
- Licence
- CC-BY-4.0
- Cadence
- quarterly
4a6c70c · open data.worldbank.org ↗
ILOSTAT, International Labour Organization (CC BY 4.0)
- Dataset
- EAP_DWAP_SEX_AGE_RT_A
- Snapshot
- 2026-08-08 · Fresh
- Licence
- CC-BY-4.0
- Cadence
- weekly (Sunday 22:00 Europe/Paris)
4a6c70c · open ilostat.ilo.org ↗Caveats
Modelled ILO estimate; Nepal's figure is elevated relative to South Asian peers partly because unpaid subsistence farm work by women is counted as labour force participation.