In the past, most people worked in agriculture; in today’s rich countries, only a small share do

Since the agricultural revolution, the majority of the labor force in countries like France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and the Netherlands worked in farming.

But over the last few centuries, this share has plummeted. Today, less than 5% of the workforce is employed in agriculture, and in many cases, it’s just a few percent.

This trend is shown clearly in the chart, which is based on data from the International Labour Organization and historical reconstructions by Broadberry and Gardner (2013).

The chart also includes the even steeper decline in agricultural employment in China over the last 40 years, as people have shifted to manufacturing and services.

Many other middle-income countries are on a similar trajectory, moving through this transition faster than European countries did in the past.

Where this page came from

This page was imported from Our World in Data. “In the past, most people worked in agriculture; in today’s rich countries, only a small share do” by Hannah Ritchie, Pablo Arriagada, published by Our World in Data under CC BY 4.0. Changed here: set as a page, its interactive charts shown as pictures. Data from third parties keeps its own licence.

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