Table 5-1

Economic activity by sex, 1995
Developed regions


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

Albania                         59          83          41
Australia                       54          75          43
Austria                         44          70          40
Belarus                         59          74          49
Belgium                         39          62          40
Bosnia and Herzegovina          44          75          38
Bulgaria                        58          66          48
Canada                          59          75          45
Croatia                         48          69          44
Czech Republic                  62          73          48
Denmark                         62          75          46
Estonia                         62          76          49
Finland                         58          68          48
France                          47          64          44
Germany                         48          72          42
Greece                          36          66          37
Hungary                         48          67          44
Iceland                         66          82          45
Ireland                         34          71          33
Italy                           38          67          38
Japan                           51          78          41
Latvia                          62          76          50
Liechtenstein                  ...         ...         ...
Lithuania                       58          74          48
Luxembourg                      37          68          36
Malta                           25          72          26
Monaco                         ...         ...         ...
Netherlands                     45          70          40
New Zealand                     55          73          44
Norway                          57          70          46
Poland                          57          73          46
Portugal                        50          72          43
Republic of Moldova             60          73          48
Romania                         51          67          44
Russian Federation              59          74          48
San Marino                      55          76          39
Slovakia                        63          74          48
Slovenia                        54          68          46
Spain                           36          67          36
Sweden                          63          71          48
Switzerland                     51          79          40
The FYR of Macedonia            50          72          41
Ukraine                         55          71          48
United Kingdom                  52          72          43
United States of America        57          73          45
Yugoslavia                      50          70          42

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.

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