Goal 8 of 17

Decent Work and Economic Growth

Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all

73.7 world score, 2022

73.2 median country score, 2023

72.0 average across the countries assessed

166 countries assessed on this goal

World score since 2000

The world aggregate for this goal only.

Regional averages

Unweighted mean across the countries of each region assessed on this goal, 2023.

How the 166 scores are spread

0 0
0 10
0 20
1 30
5 40
16 50
46 60
58 70
39 80
1 90

Biggest gains on this goal

Change in goal score, 2015–2022.

1 North Macedonia 59.3 → 70.0 +10.7
2 Greece 63.4 → 73.8 +10.4
3 Bosnia and Herzegovina 67.1 → 76.9 +9.8
4 Senegal 69.9 → 78.7 +8.8
5 Moldova 67.6 → 75.9 +8.3

Largest falls on this goal

Where the score is lower than it was in 2015.

1 Belize 73.6 → 66.0 -7.6
2 Lebanon 61.6 → 54.1 -7.5
3 United Arab Emirates 67.5 → 63.7 -3.8
4 Sao Tome and Principe 52.0 → 48.6 -3.4
5 Brazil 78.9 → 76.0 -2.9

Every country on Goal 8

2023 scores, highest first. Ties share a rank.

Rank	Country	Region	Score
1	Cuba	Latin America & the Caribbean	93.4
2	Japan	OECD	88.2
3	Czechia	OECD	88.0
4	New Zealand	OECD	87.8
5	Denmark	OECD	87.6
6	Malta	Eastern Europe & Central Asia	87.3
7	Ireland	OECD	87.0
8	Germany	OECD	87.0
9	Poland	OECD	86.9
10	Finland	OECD	86.8
11	Australia	OECD	86.7
12	Netherlands	OECD	86.3
13	Norway	OECD	85.9
14	Luxembourg	OECD	85.7
15	Korea, Rep.	OECD	85.5
16	France	OECD	85.3
17	Sweden	OECD	85.0
18	Slovenia	OECD	84.9
19	Hungary	OECD	84.6
20	Canada	OECD	84.6
21	Latvia	OECD	84.5
22	Israel	OECD	84.3
23	Belgium	OECD	84.3
24	Uruguay	Latin America & the Caribbean	84.2
25	Chile	OECD	84.1
26	United Kingdom	OECD	84.0
27	Austria	OECD	83.3
28	Romania	Eastern Europe & Central Asia	83.2
29	Croatia	Eastern Europe & Central Asia	82.7
30	Bulgaria	Eastern Europe & Central Asia	82.3
31	Estonia	OECD	82.2
32	United States	OECD	81.9
33	Bahrain	Middle East & North Africa	81.9
34	Serbia	Eastern Europe & Central Asia	81.7
35	Russian Federation	Eastern Europe & Central Asia	81.6
36	Switzerland	OECD	81.6
37	Slovak Republic	OECD	81.5
38	Portugal	OECD	81.2
39	Lithuania	OECD	81.1
40	Oman	Middle East & North Africa	80.9
41	Italy	OECD	79.9
42	Sri Lanka	East & South Asia	79.7
43	Spain	OECD	79.4
44	Argentina	Latin America & the Caribbean	79.2
45	China	East & South Asia	78.9
46	Senegal	Sub-Saharan Africa	78.7
47	Ukraine	Eastern Europe & Central Asia	78.4
48	Malaysia	East & South Asia	78.0
49	Iceland	OECD	77.7
50	Saudi Arabia	Middle East & North Africa	77.5
51	Indonesia	East & South Asia	77.4
52	Thailand	East & South Asia	77.2
53	Kuwait	Middle East & North Africa	77.0
54	Papua New Guinea	Oceania	76.9
55	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Eastern Europe & Central Asia	76.9
56	Jamaica	Latin America & the Caribbean	76.9
57	Kazakhstan	Eastern Europe & Central Asia	76.8
58	Venezuela, RB	Latin America & the Caribbean	76.6
59	Cote d'Ivoire	Sub-Saharan Africa	76.4
60	Ghana	Sub-Saharan Africa	76.4
61	Vietnam	East & South Asia	76.2
62	Tajikistan	Eastern Europe & Central Asia	76.1
63	Benin	Sub-Saharan Africa	76.0
64	Brazil	Latin America & the Caribbean	76.0
65	Moldova	Eastern Europe & Central Asia	75.9
66	Ecuador	Latin America & the Caribbean	75.9
67	Kenya	Sub-Saharan Africa	75.7
68	Bolivia	Latin America & the Caribbean	75.4
69	Trinidad and Tobago	Latin America & the Caribbean	75.4
70	Singapore	East & South Asia	74.8
71	Cyprus	Eastern Europe & Central Asia	74.8
72	Peru	Latin America & the Caribbean	74.6
73	Mauritius	Sub-Saharan Africa	74.6
74	Bangladesh	East & South Asia	74.6
75	Costa Rica	OECD	74.4
76	Dominican Republic	Latin America & the Caribbean	74.4
77	Guyana	Latin America & the Caribbean	74.3
78	Georgia	Eastern Europe & Central Asia	74.2
79	Greece	OECD	73.8
80	Azerbaijan	Eastern Europe & Central Asia	73.8
81	India	East & South Asia	73.7
82	Armenia	Eastern Europe & Central Asia	73.4
83	Tanzania	Sub-Saharan Africa	73.3
84	Paraguay	Latin America & the Caribbean	73.0
85	Lao PDR	East & South Asia	72.8
86	Uzbekistan	Eastern Europe & Central Asia	72.5
87	Maldives	East & South Asia	72.4
88	Mali	Sub-Saharan Africa	72.2
89	Bhutan	East & South Asia	72.1
90	El Salvador	Latin America & the Caribbean	71.7
91	Colombia	OECD	71.2
92	Panama	Latin America & the Caribbean	71.2
93	Guatemala	Latin America & the Caribbean	71.0
94	Mongolia	East & South Asia	70.9
95	Togo	Sub-Saharan Africa	70.7
96	Syrian Arab Republic	Middle East & North Africa	70.2
97	Burkina Faso	Sub-Saharan Africa	70.2
98	Turkmenistan	Eastern Europe & Central Asia	70.1
99	Türkiye	OECD	70.0
100	North Macedonia	Eastern Europe & Central Asia	70.0
101	Qatar	Middle East & North Africa	69.9
102	South Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa	69.8
103	Kyrgyz Republic	Eastern Europe & Central Asia	69.6
104	Barbados	Latin America & the Caribbean	69.4
105	Uganda	Sub-Saharan Africa	69.3
106	Philippines	East & South Asia	69.2
107	Morocco	Middle East & North Africa	69.1
108	Rwanda	Sub-Saharan Africa	69.1
109	Cameroon	Sub-Saharan Africa	68.8
110	Brunei Darussalam	East & South Asia	68.8
111	Mexico	OECD	68.4
112	Nepal	East & South Asia	67.8
113	Guinea	Sub-Saharan Africa	67.8
114	Nicaragua	Latin America & the Caribbean	67.6
115	Niger	Sub-Saharan Africa	67.6
116	Algeria	Middle East & North Africa	67.5
117	Malawi	Sub-Saharan Africa	67.3
118	Honduras	Latin America & the Caribbean	67.2
119	Sierra Leone	Sub-Saharan Africa	67.1
120	Mozambique	Sub-Saharan Africa	66.9
121	Gabon	Sub-Saharan Africa	66.6
122	Belarus	Eastern Europe & Central Asia	66.6
123	Nigeria	Sub-Saharan Africa	66.6
124	Liberia	Sub-Saharan Africa	66.4
125	Myanmar	East & South Asia	66.4
126	Bahamas, The	Latin America & the Caribbean	66.4
127	Albania	Eastern Europe & Central Asia	66.2
128	Ethiopia	Sub-Saharan Africa	66.1
129	Belize	Latin America & the Caribbean	66.0
130	Gambia, The	Sub-Saharan Africa	65.7
131	Zambia	Sub-Saharan Africa	65.1
132	Egypt, Arab Rep.	Middle East & North Africa	64.9
133	Madagascar	Sub-Saharan Africa	64.7
134	Jordan	Middle East & North Africa	64.6
135	Chad	Sub-Saharan Africa	64.4
136	Namibia	Sub-Saharan Africa	64.0
137	Botswana	Sub-Saharan Africa	64.0
138	United Arab Emirates	Middle East & North Africa	63.7
139	Zimbabwe	Sub-Saharan Africa	63.2
140	Tunisia	Middle East & North Africa	62.5
141	Iran, Islamic Rep.	Middle East & North Africa	62.5
142	Cambodia	East & South Asia	62.2
143	Montenegro	Eastern Europe & Central Asia	61.6
144	Congo, Dem. Rep.	Sub-Saharan Africa	60.5
145	Pakistan	East & South Asia	59.4
146	Angola	Sub-Saharan Africa	59.0
147	Cabo Verde	Sub-Saharan Africa	58.7
148	Iraq	Middle East & North Africa	57.9
149	Haiti	Latin America & the Caribbean	57.7
150	Suriname	Latin America & the Caribbean	55.9
151	Somalia	Sub-Saharan Africa	55.7
152	Burundi	Sub-Saharan Africa	55.0
153	Congo, Rep.	Sub-Saharan Africa	54.2
154	Lebanon	Middle East & North Africa	54.1
155	Djibouti	Sub-Saharan Africa	53.6
156	Central African Republic	Sub-Saharan Africa	53.4
157	Fiji	Oceania	53.3
158	Yemen, Rep.	Middle East & North Africa	53.2
159	South Sudan	Sub-Saharan Africa	50.9
160	Mauritania	Sub-Saharan Africa	50.4
161	Sao Tome and Principe	Sub-Saharan Africa	48.6
162	Lesotho	Sub-Saharan Africa	46.5
163	Eswatini	Sub-Saharan Africa	44.8
164	Sudan	Sub-Saharan Africa	44.2
165	Comoros	Sub-Saharan Africa	43.5
166	Afghanistan	Eastern Europe & Central Asia	39.5