Table 5-1

Economic activity by sex, 1995
Asia and Pacific


Country or area               Adult (15+) economic   Women's share
                              activity rate (%)      of the adult
                                                     labour force (%)
                                 w           m

Afghanistan                      47          86          34
Armenia                          62          73          48
Azerbaijan                       53          74          44
Bahrain                          31          87          19
Bangladesh                       66          87          42
Bhutan                           58          90          39
Brunei Darussalam                48          82          34
Cambodia                         83          87          52
China  a                         74          86          45
  Hong Kong SAR                  49          79          37
Cyprus                           49          80          38
East Timor                       76          89          44
Georgia                          55          73          46
India                            41          85          31
Indonesia                        53          82          40
Iran (Islamic Rep. of)           25          79          24
Iraq                             17          75          18
Israel                           46          72          40
Japan                            51          78          41
Jordan                           22          76          21
Kazakhstan                       60          76          46
Korea, Dem. People's Rep.        62          82          44
Korea, Republic of               51          77          40
Kuwait                           39          79          31
Kyrgyzstan                       60          74          47
Lao People's Dem. Rep.           75          89          47
Lebanon                          27          76          28
Macau                            55          83          42
Malaysia                         47          81          37
Maldives                         65          83          42
Mongolia                         73          84          47
Myanmar                          66          88          43
Nepal                            57          86          40
Oman                             16          80          14
Pakistan                         32          85          26
Philippines                      48          82          37
Qatar                            35          91          13
Saudi Arabia                     18          82          13
Singapore                        51          80          39
Sri Lanka                        41          78          36
Syrian Arab Republic             26          78          25
Tajikistan                       55          74          44
Thailand                         74          86          46
Turkey                           47          82          36
Turkmenistan                     61          78          45
United Arab Emirates             31          89          13
Uzbekistan                       61          74          46
Viet Nam                         75          84          49
Yemen                            29          82          27

 Oceania:

American Samoa                   42 b        59 b        41 b
Australia                        54          75          43
Cook Islands                     44 c        71 c        36 c
Fiji                             32          82          27
French Polynesia                 49 d        74 d        37 d
Guam                             84 b        60 b        37 b
Kiribati                         68 b        84 b        46 b
Marshall Islands                 30 d        77 d        27 d
Micronesia, Fed. States of       33 e        65 e        34 e
New Caledonia                    50 f        81 f        37 f
New Zealand                      55          73          44
Northern Mariana Islands         76 b        88 b        43 b
Palau                            53 b        72 b        38 b
Papua New Guinea                 67          87          42
Samoa                            40 c        77 c        32 c
Solomon Islands                  82          89          46
Tonga                            36 b        76 b        33 b
Vanuatu                          79 f        89 f        46 f

Sources:
Prepared by the Statistics Division of the United Nations Secretariat from the International Labour Office, Economically Active Population, 1950-2010, fourth edition, STAT Working Papers Nos. 1996-1, 1996-2, 1996-3, 1996-4 and 1996-5 (Geneva, 1996) and Year Book of Labour Statistics (Geneva, various years up to 1996), and national statistics reports.

a   For statistical purposes the data for China do not include those for Hong Kong Special 
      Administrative Region (Hong Kong SAR) and Taiwan Province of China.
b   Data refer to 1990.
c   Data refer to 1991.
d   Data refer to 1988.
e   Data refer to 1985-1989.
f   Data refer to 1989.

Technical notes:
Indicators concerning the total economically active population aged 15 years and over have been compiled mainly from estimates and projections prepared by the International Labour Office.
Concepts and issues concerning statistics on women economically active are discussed in the special section "Counting economically active women" in The World's Women, 1970-1995: Trends and Statistics (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.90.XVII.3). As explained there, the standard concept of economically active population is defined to comprise all employed and unemployed persons, including those seeking work for the first time. It covers employers operating unincorporated enterprises, persons working on their own account, employees, unpaid family workers, members of producers cooperatives and members of the armed forces. In the internationally-recommended definition, production of primary products such as foodstuffs for own consumption and certain other non-monetary activities are considered economic activity and persons engaged in such production are to be considered economically active. In principle, any such work need only be for as little as one hour a week for a person to be considered economically active.
Specific elements of the standard concepts may, however, differ substantially from country to country and many of these differences may affect the measurement of women's participation in economic activity, such as the choice of time-reference period and the determination of minimum hours of work and unpaid family work, including production for own consumption. Moreover, the economic activity of women is often substantially understated because stereotypes held by census and survey interviewers and respondents lead to errors in the reporting and recording of the economic activity and because, in many countries, women account for the major portion of persons engaged in those economic activities that are the most difficult to measure.

Statistical symbols and conventions used in the tables