In 2024, the labor force participation rate in the Philippines was 64.4 percent. The labor force participation rate in the country has been fluctuating over the past decade, with its lowest figure recorded in 2020. Labor force situation in the Philippines  The labor force participation rate refers to the share of the population currently employed or actively seeking employment. As a country with a predominantly young population, the labor market in the Philippines is robust, with a workforce that could drive economic growth. In 2023, the working-age population in the Philippines was estimated to have surpassed 77 million people, reflecting constant growth in recent years. Across gender, the labor force participation of women was significantly lower than for men. COVID-impact on employment  The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 resulted in significant job losses in the Philippines as long periods of lockdown shuttered the economy. A survey in April 2021 reflected that around 45 percent of public transportation drivers lost their jobs due to the pandemic. In addition, 34 percent of workers in formal and informal services also experienced job losses. As a result, the unemployment rate reflected a slight increase during this period, although it was still lower than the rate of unemployment recorded in 2006.

Labor force, total in Philippines was reported at 50979290 in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Philippines - Labor force, total - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Labor Force Participation Rate in Philippines increased to 65.80 percent in May from 63.70 percent in April of 2025. This dataset provides - Philippines Labor Force Participation Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Philippines Labor Force: National Capital Region (NCR) data was reported at 5,538.000 Person th in Jul 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 5,463.000 Person th for Apr 2018. Philippines Labor Force: National Capital Region (NCR) data is updated quarterly, averaging 5,034.000 Person th from Jul 2004 (Median) to Jul 2018, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 5,676.000 Person th in Oct 2017 and a record low of 4,537.000 Person th in Apr 2006. Philippines Labor Force: National Capital Region (NCR) data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Philippine Statistics Authority. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Philippines – Table PH.G008: Labour Force Survey: Labour Force.

Labor force with advanced education (% of total working-age population with advanced education) in Philippines was reported at 71.14 % in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Philippines - Labor force with advanced education (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Philippines Labor Force: Female: Age: 15 Years & Over data was reported at 20,865.000 Person th in Jan 2025. This records an increase from the previous number of 20,520.000 Person th for Oct 2024. Philippines Labor Force: Female: Age: 15 Years & Over data is updated quarterly, averaging 16,091.000 Person th from Jul 2004 (Median) to Jan 2025, with 83 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 21,044.000 Person th in Apr 2023 and a record low of 13,196.000 Person th in Jan 2006. Philippines Labor Force: Female: Age: 15 Years & Over data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Philippine Statistics Authority. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Philippines – Table PH.G016: Labour Force Survey: Labour Force: Quarterly.

Labor force, female (% of total labor force) in Philippines was reported at 41.39 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Philippines - Labor force, female - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Geographic coverage

National coverage

Analysis unit

households/individuals

Kind of data

survey

Frequency of data collection

Four times a year: January, April, July and October

Sampling procedure

Sample size:

Philippines Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR): National Capital Region (NCR) data was reported at 59.800 % in Apr 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 60.600 % for Jan 2018. Philippines Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR): National Capital Region (NCR) data is updated quarterly, averaging 62.650 % from Jul 2004 (Median) to Apr 2018, with 56 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 65.400 % in Jul 2004 and a record low of 59.800 % in Apr 2018. Philippines Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR): National Capital Region (NCR) data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Philippine Statistics Authority. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Philippines – Table PH.G006: Labour Force Survey: Labour Force Participation Rate.

The statistic shows the distribution of employment in the Philippines by economic sector from 2013 to 2023. In 2023, 22.37 percent of the employees in the Philippines were active in the agricultural sector, 18.47 percent in industry and 59.16 percent in the services sector.

Historical chart and dataset showing Philippines labor force participation rate by year from 1990 to 2024.

Abstract

The Labor Force Survey (LFS) aims to provide a quantitative framework for the preparation of plans and formulation of policies affecting the labor market.

Specifically, the survey is designed to provide statistics on levels and trends of employment, unemployment and underemployment for the country as a whole, and for each of the administrative regions.

Importance of the Labor Force Survey:

a. It provides a quantitative framework for the preparation of plans and formulation of policies affecting the labor market towards 1) creation and generation of gainful employment and livelihood opportunities 2) reduction of unemployment and promotion of employment 3) improvement of working conditions 4) enhancement of the welfare of a working person b. It provides statistics on levels and trends of employment and unemployment and underemployment for the country and regions; c. It is used for the projection of future manpower, which when compared with the future manpower requirements, will help identify employment and training needs; d. It helps in the assessment of the potential human resource available for economic development; and e. It identifies the differences in employment, unemployment, and underemployment according to the different economic, social and ethnic groups existing within the population.

Geographic coverage

The geographic coverage consists of the country's 17 administrative regions. The 17 regions are:

Region I - Ilocos,
Region II - Cagayan Valley, Region III - Central Luzon, Region IV - Southern Tagalog,
Region V - Bicol,
Region VI - Western Visayas,
Region VII - Central Visayas,
Region VIII - Eastern Visayas,
Region IX - Western Mindanao,
Region X - Northern Mindanao,
Region XI - Southern Mindanao,
Region XII - Central Mindanao,
Region XIII - National Capital Region (NCR),
Region XIV - Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR),
Region XV - Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Region XVI - Caraga.

Analysis unit

Individuals

Universe

The LFS has as its target population, all household members of the sample housing units nationwide. A household is defined as an aggregate of persons, generally but not necessarily bound by ties of kinship, who live together under the same roof and eat together or share in common the household food. Household membership comprises the head of the household, relatives living with him such as his or her spouse, children, parent, brother or sister, son-in-law or daughter-in-law, grandson or granddaughter, and other relatives. Household membership likewise includes boarders, domestic helpers and non-relatives. A person who lives alone is considered a separate household.

Persons who reside in the institutions are not within the scope of the survey.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

ISH FORM 2 (LFS questionnaire) is a four-page, forty four-column questionnaire that is being used in the quarterly rounds of the Labor Force Survey nationwide. This questionnaire gathers data on the demographic and economic characteristics of the population.

On the first page of the questionnaire, the particulars about the geographic location, design codes and household auxiliary information of the sample household that is being interviewed are to be recorded. Certifications by the enumerator and his supervisor regarding the manner by which the data are collected are likewise to be made on this page.

The inside pages of the questionnaire contain the items to be determined about each member of the sample household. Columns 2 to 11 are for the demographic characteristics; columns 2 to 7A are to be ascertained of all members of the household regardless of age. Columns 8 to 9 are asked for members 5 years old and over, while column 10 is asked for members 5 to 24 years old, column 11, for 15 years old and over, while columns 12 to 16 are asked for members 5 years old and over. Items 18 to 44 on the other hand, are the series of items that will be asked of all the members 15 years old and over to determine their labor force and employment characteristics.

Most of the questions have pre-coded responses. The possible answers with their corresponding codes are printed at the bottom of the page for easy reference. Only the appropriate codes need to be entered in the cells.

Other items, however, require write-in entries such as column 14 (primary occupation) and column 16 (kind of business/industry), etc. For such items, it is required that the enumerator describes the primary occupation or kind of business/industry.

Cleaning operations

Data processing involves two stages: manual processing and machine processing.

Manual processing is done at the provincial offices. This is the general review of the questionnaires. This process includes the folioing of the questionnaires, completeness and consistency checking of the responses, editing and coding of responses. This is done prior to machine processing. The average output per day is 50 questionnaires.

Unemployment, youth total (% of total labor force ages 15-24) (national estimate) in Philippines was reported at 6.863 % in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Philippines - Unemployment, youth total (% of total labor force ages 15-24) (national estimate) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) (modeled ILO estimate) in Philippines was reported at 69.06 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Philippines - Ratio of female to male labor participation rate - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Philippines Labor Force: Region IVA: Calabarzon data was reported at 6,249.000 Person th in Apr 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 6,276.000 Person th for Jan 2018. Philippines Labor Force: Region IVA: Calabarzon data is updated quarterly, averaging 5,131.000 Person th from Jul 2004 (Median) to Apr 2018, with 56 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 6,457.000 Person th in Oct 2017 and a record low of 4,203.000 Person th in Apr 2005. Philippines Labor Force: Region IVA: Calabarzon data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Philippine Statistics Authority. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Philippines – Table PH.G005: Labour Force Survey: Labour Force.

Abstract

The Labor Force Survey is a nationwide survey of households conducted regularly to gather data on the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the population. It is primarily geared towards the estimation of the levels of employment in the country.

The Labor Force Survey aims to provide a quantitative framework for the preparation of plans and formulation of policies affecting the labor market.

Geographic coverage

National coverage, the sample design has been drawn in such a way that accurate lower level classification would be possible. The 74 provinces, 24 cities and eight key municipalities are covered.

Analysis unit

• Person/ individual

Universe

The survey covered all persons 10 years old and over. Persons who reside in institutions are not covered.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The sampling design of the Labor Force Survey adopts that of the Integrated Survey of Households (ISH), which uses a stratified two-stage sampling design. It is prepared by the NEDA Technical Committee on Survey Design and first implemented in 1984. It is the same sampling design used in the ISH modules starting in 1986.

The urban and rural areas of each province are the principal domains of the survey. In addition, the urban and rural areas of cities with a population of 150,000 or more as of 1990 are also made domains of the survey with urban and rural dimensions. These include the four cities and five municipalities of Metro Manila (Manila, Quezon City, Pasay and Caloocan; Valenzuela, Paranaque, Pasig, Marikina and Makati), and other key cities such as Baguio, Angeles, Cabanatuan, Olongapo, Batangas, Lipa, Lucena, San Pablo, Bacolod, Iloilo, Cebu, Mandaue, Zamboanga, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Davao, General Santos, and Iligan and key municipalities such as San Fernando, Pampanga and Tarlac, Tarlac.

The rest of Metro Manila, i.e., the remaining municipalities are treated as separate domains. In the case of Makati, six exclusive villages are identified and samples are selected using a different scheme. These villages are Forbes Park, Bel-Air, Dasmarinas, San Lorenzo, Urdaneta and Magallanes.

Because of the creation of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), this, defining its areas of coverage, Marawi City and Cotabato Cfity are likewises treated as domains.

Sampling Units and Sampling Frame The primary sampling units (PSUs) under the sample design are the barangays and the households within each sample barangay comprise the secondary sampling units (SSUs). The frame from which the sample barangays are drawn is obtained from the 1990 Census of Population and Housing (CPH). Hence, all the approximately 40,000 barangays covered in the 1990 CPH are part of the primary sampling frame. The sampling frame for the SSUs, that is, the households, is prepared by listing all households in each of the selected sample barangays. The listing operation is conducted regularly in the sample barangays to update the secondary sampling frame from where the sample households are selected.

Sample Size and Sampling Fraction The size of the sample is envisioned to meet the demand for fairly adequate statistics at the domain level. Taking this need into account and considering cost constraints as well, the decision reached is for a national sample of about 26,000 households. In general, the sample design results in self-weighting samples within domains, with a uniform sampling fraction of 1:400 for urban and 1:600 for rural areas. However, special areas are assigned different sampling fractions so as to obtain "adequate" samples for each. Special areas refer to the urban and rural areas of a province or large city which are small relative to their counterparts.

Selection of Samples For the purpose of selecting PSUs, the barangay in each domain are arranged by population size (as of the 1990 Census of Population) in descending order and then grouped into strata of approximately equal sizes. Four independent PSUs are drawn with probability proportional to size with complete replacement.

Secondary sampling units are selected systematiclally with a random start.

Sampling deviation

Replacement of non-responding or transferred sample households is allowed although it is still possible to have non-response cases due to critical peace and order situation or inaccessibility of the selected sample households. If there are unenumerated barangays or sample households, non-response adjustments are utilized.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The items of information presented in the October 1991 Quarterly Labor Force Survey questionnaire were derived from a structured questionnaire covering the demographic and economic characteristics of individuals. The demographic characteristics include age, sex, relationship to household head, marital status, and highest grade completed. The economic characteristics include employment status, occupation, industry, nomal working hours, total hours worked, class of worker, etc.

Cleaning operations

Data processing involves two stages: manual processing and machine processing. Manual processing refers to the manual editing and coding of questionnaires. This was done prior to machine processing which entailed code validation, consistency checks as well as tabulation.

Enumeration is a very complex operation and may happen that accomplished questionnaires may have some omissions and implausible or inconsistent entries. Editing is meant to correct these errors.

For purposes of operational convenience, field editing was done. The interviewers were required to review the entries at the end of each interview. Blank items, which were applicable to the respondents, were verified and filled out. Before being transmitted to the regional office, all questionnaires were edited in the field offices.

Coding, the transformation of information from the questionnaire to machine readable form, was likewise done in the field offices.

Machine processing involved all operations that were done with the use of a computer and/or its accessories, that is, from data encoding to tabulation. Coded data are usually in such media as tapes and diskettes. Machine editing is preferred to ensure correctness of encoded information. Except for sample completeness check and verification of geographic identification which are the responsibility of the subject matter division, some imputations and corrections of entries are done mechanically.

Response rate

The response rate for October 1991 LFS was 99.81 percent. The non-response rate of 0.19 percent was due to crticial peace and order situation or inaccessibility of the selected sample or sample households.

Sampling error estimates

Standard Error (SE) and Coefficient of Variation (CV) for the selected variables of the Labor Force Survey (LFS) for October1991 survey round was computed using the statistical package IMPS. The selected variables referred to include the employment, unemployment and labor force population levels and rates.

A sampling error is usually measured in terms of the standard error for a particular statistic. A standard error is a measure of dispersion of an estimate from the expected value.

The SE can be used to calculate confidence intervals within which the true value for the population can be estimated, while the CV is a measure of relative variability that is commonly used to assess the precision of survey estimates.

The CV is defined as the ratio of the standard error and the estimate. An estimate with CV value of less than 10 percent is considered precise.

The Philippines: Armed forces personnel, percent of the labor force: The latest value from 2020 is 0.37 percent, an increase from 0.34 percent in 2019. In comparison, the world average is 1.26 percent, based on data from 165 countries. Historically, the average for the Philippines from 1991 to 2020 is 0.44 percent. The minimum value, 0.34 percent, was reached in 2019 while the maximum of 0.57 percent was recorded in 1995.

Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) (national estimate) in Philippines was reported at 2.598 % in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Philippines - Unemployment, total (national estimate) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15+) (national estimate) in Philippines was reported at 61.44 % in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Philippines - Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15+) (national estimate) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Philippines Not In Labor Force: Age: 35 to 44 Years data was reported at 2,946.000 Person th in Apr 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 2,667.000 Person th for Jan 2018. Philippines Not In Labor Force: Age: 35 to 44 Years data is updated quarterly, averaging 2,338.500 Person th from Jul 2004 (Median) to Apr 2018, with 56 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 3,033.000 Person th in Apr 2017 and a record low of 1,905.000 Person th in Jul 2004. Philippines Not In Labor Force: Age: 35 to 44 Years data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Philippine Statistics Authority. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Philippines – Table PH.G010: Labour Force Survey: Not in Labour Force.