Citation: Bonnet, Florence, Joann Vanek, and Martha Alter Chen. Women and Men in the Informal Economy: A Statistical Brief. WIEGO and ILO.
This publication is a brief version of the 3rd edition of Women and Men in the Informal Economy: A Statistical Picture (ILO 2018).
The 3rd edition of Women and Men in the Informal Economy estimates that two billion (61 per cent) of the global employed population earn their living in the informal economy (ILO 2018). It shows that informality exists in countries at all levels of socio-economic development. Although it is more prevalent in developing countries than developed countries, informality encompasses a wide range of jobs and economic activities with no work-based social protection: from street vending, home-based work in global and domestic value chains, waste-picking and domestic work to short-term contract work.
For this edition, the ILO processed micro-data for more than 100 countries representing more than 90 per cent of the world’s employed population aged 15 years and older.
The brief will soon be published in Spanish and French.