SDG #8 is to “Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.”

Within SDG #8 are 12 targets, of which we here focus on Target 8.3:

Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services

Target 8.3 has one indicator:

• Indicator 8.3.1: Proportion of informal employment in total employment, by sector and sex

Of the countries with data, many of the Least Developed Countries had greater than 80% of workers in non-agricultural informal work. The numbers are also high in the very populous countries India and Bangladesh, with 80% and 91% of workers in the informal sector. 

Much fewer countries have data for informal employment in the agriculture sector. This includes many of the countries with highest proportions of informality in non-agriculture. Developing countries with 2022 data had between 80-100% informal employment in agriculture.

The country with the greatest gender imbalance in the non-agricultural sector was Cote d'Ivoire. There, 79% of men were in informal employment and 93% of females. In agriculture, the biggest gender disparities among countries with data were in Europe. 31% of Serbian males compared to 68% of women were in informal employment, and 42% of males and 78% of women in Poland. 

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