OECD vs United Kingdom: Collective bargaining coverage — Employees with the right to bargain

OECD
33.62 Percentage of employees
in 2024
United Kingdom
40.2 Percentage of employees
in 2024
OECD rank
19th
United Kingdom rank
17th

Collective bargaining coverage — Employees with the right to bargain over time

  • OECD
  • United Kingdom
020406080196019922024

How they compare

United Kingdom currently reports 40.2 Percentage of employees against 33.62 Percentage of employees in OECD, a difference of 6.58 Percentage of employees.

That makes United Kingdom's figure about 1.2 times OECD's.

The two have swapped places 2 times across 40 shared years of data; in 1960 it was United Kingdom ahead.

OECD ranks 19th and United Kingdom ranks 17th of 29 countries.

Across the 7 decades both report, OECD averaged higher in 1 and United Kingdom in 6.

Head to head by decade

Decade OECD United Kingdom Difference Ahead
1960s 50.28 Percentage of employees 71.05 Percentage of employees 20.77 Percentage of employees United Kingdom
1970s 49.82 Percentage of employees 81.67 Percentage of employees 31.85 Percentage of employees United Kingdom
1980s 48.35 Percentage of employees 78.75 Percentage of employees 30.4 Percentage of employees United Kingdom
1990s 41.82 Percentage of employees 41.49 Percentage of employees 0.3352 Percentage of employees OECD
2000s 38.35 Percentage of employees 42.64 Percentage of employees 4.29 Percentage of employees United Kingdom
2010s 35.05 Percentage of employees 42.87 Percentage of employees 7.82 Percentage of employees United Kingdom
2020s 33.89 Percentage of employees 39.74 Percentage of employees 5.85 Percentage of employees United Kingdom

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher collective bargaining coverage — employees with the right to bargain, OECD or United Kingdom?
United Kingdom, at 40.2 Percentage of employees against 33.62 Percentage of employees in OECD as of 2024.
What is the difference in collective bargaining coverage — employees with the right to bargain between OECD and United Kingdom?
6.58 Percentage of employees, with United Kingdom ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for OECD and United Kingdom?
40 years are reported by both, from 1960 to 2024.
How do OECD and United Kingdom rank globally for collective bargaining coverage — employees with the right to bargain?
OECD ranks 19th and United Kingdom ranks 17th of 29 countries.
Where does this data come from?
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as Collective bargaining coverage — Employees with the right to bargain. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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OECD vs United Kingdom: Collective bargaining coverage — Employees with the right to bargain. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 15 November 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/collective-bargaining-coverage-employees-with-the-right-to-bargain/oecd/united-kingdom/

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About this data

Indicator
Collective bargaining coverage — Employees with the right to bargain
Unit
Percentage of employees
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence
OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
37 places, 1,069 data points, 1960–2024
Last refreshed

The database on Institutional Characteristics of Trade Unions, Wage Setting, State Intervention and Social Pacts (ICTWSS) was developed by Prof. Jelle Visser at the University of Amsterdam. It was first released in May 2007. In its initial form, the ICTWSS database combined data from various sources and projects with a main focus on trade union in EU and OECD countries, collective bargaining and employment relations in Europe, and social pacts. In 2021, the ICTWSS database was rebranded as the OECD/AIAS ICTWSS database to reflect the joint effort by the OECD and AIAS-HSI to ensure the continuation of the database following Prof. Visser’s retirement. The OECD/AIAS ICTWSS database is publicly available at: http://www.oecd.org/employment/ictwss-database.htm