Middle East & Africa
Employment-protection coverage across Middle East & Africa: composite scores, sources, and the most recent data year for each economy.
Middle East & Africa spans 44 countries in the employment-protection register, with the strongest statutory dismissal protection in Angola (0.535 on the ILO EPLex scale); the regional ILO EPLex average is 0.401 on the 0–1 scale.
28 EPLex · 33 B-READY · 4 OECD · #1 of 4 regions by inventory. Higher = stronger statutory protection.
ILO EPLex Regional Atlas
Middle East & Africa's ILO EPLex regional average is 0.401 across 28 reporting countries; peer regional averages sit at Europe 0.468, Americas 0.352, Asia-Pacific 0.456.
Region EPLex year-mean
Flat (±0.01) from 2009→2019 · peak 0.405 in 2016 (n=24)
Mean ILO EPLex composite across Middle East & Africa countries with at least five reporters in a year (2009–2019). Latest panel: 0.402 (n=21). Source: ILO EPLex yearly panel via PlainEmploy.
| # | Country | Protection score | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cabo Verde 🇨🇻 | 71.1 (B-READY) | 2025 |
| 2 | Mauritius 🇲🇺 | 70.0 (B-READY) | 2025 |
| 3 | Eswatini 🇸🇿 | 67.0 (B-READY) | 2025 |
| 4 | Togo 🇹🇬 | 66.3 (B-READY) | 2025 |
| 5 | Sierra Leone 🇸🇱 | 66.1 (B-READY) | 2025 |
| 6 | Bahrain 🇧🇭 | 65.8 (B-READY) | 2025 |
| 7 | West Bank and Gaza 🇵🇸 | 61.1 (B-READY) | 2025 |
| 8 | Seychelles 🇸🇨 | 60.7 (B-READY) | 2025 |
| 9 | Israel 🇮🇱 | 60.5 (B-READY) | 2025 |
| 10 | Equatorial Guinea 🇬🇶 | 57.9 (B-READY) | 2025 |
| 11 | Mali 🇲🇱 | 57.0 (B-READY) | 2025 |
| 12 | Congo, Rep. 🇨🇬 | 56.8 (B-READY) | 2025 |
| 13 | Benin 🇧🇯 | 54.7 (B-READY) | 2025 |
| 14 | Angola 🇦🇴 | 0.535 (EPLex) | 2025 |
| 15 | Chad 🇹🇩 | 53.4 (B-READY) | 2025 |
| 16 | Gambia 🇬🇲 | 53.2 (B-READY) | 2025 |
| 17 | Lesotho 🇱🇸 | 0.531 (EPLex) | 2025 |
| 18 | Egypt 🇪🇬 | 0.527 (EPLex) | 2017 |
| 19 | Congo, Dem. Rep. 🇨🇩 | 0.496 (EPLex) | 2025 |
| 20 | Ethiopia 🇪🇹 | 0.489 (EPLex) | 2013 |
| 21 | South Sudan 🇸🇸 | 48.5 (B-READY) | 2025 |
| 22 | Comoros 🇰🇲 | 0.473 (EPLex) | 2019 |
| 23 | Morocco 🇲🇦 | 0.472 (EPLex) | 2025 |
| 24 | Central African Republic 🇨🇫 | 0.469 (EPLex) | 2025 |
| 25 | Zambia 🇿🇲 | 0.455 (EPLex) | 2019 |
| 26 | Burkina Faso 🇧🇫 | 0.448 (EPLex) | 2025 |
| 27 | Algeria 🇩🇿 | 0.421 (EPLex) | 2019 |
| 28 | Syria 🇸🇾 | 0.419 (EPLex) | 2013 |
| 29 | Jordan 🇯🇴 | 0.415 (EPLex) | 2025 |
| 30 | Botswana 🇧🇼 | 0.404 (EPLex) | 2025 |
| 31 | Senegal 🇸🇳 | 0.400 (EPLex) | 2025 |
| 32 | Tanzania 🇹🇿 | 0.398 (EPLex) | 2025 |
| 33 | Cote d'Ivoire 🇨🇮 | 0.396 (EPLex) | 2025 |
| 34 | Uganda 🇺🇬 | 0.389 (EPLex) | 2019 |
| 35 | Saudi Arabia 🇸🇦 | 0.373 (EPLex) | 2017 |
| 36 | Yemen 🇾🇪 | 0.346 (EPLex) | 2013 |
| 37 | South Africa 🇿🇦 | 0.333 (EPLex) | 2019 |
| 38 | Rwanda 🇷🇼 | 0.330 (EPLex) | 2025 |
| 39 | Madagascar 🇲🇬 | 0.324 (EPLex) | 2025 |
| 40 | Ghana 🇬🇭 | 0.321 (EPLex) | 2025 |
| 41 | Namibia 🇳🇦 | 0.308 (EPLex) | 2025 |
| 42 | Cameroon 🇨🇲 | 0.278 (EPLex) | 2025 |
| 43 | Tunisia 🇹🇳 | 0.245 (EPLex) | 2025 |
| 44 | United Arab Emirates 🇦🇪 | 0.239 (EPLex) | 2013 |
The magnitude bar normalizes each country to a 0–100 protection index for visual comparison; the score column shows the raw value and its source, ILO EPLex (0–1), World Bank B-READY (0–100), or OECD EPL (0–6). Higher = more protective.
Source: ILO EPLex + World Bank B-READY 2025 + OECD Employment Protection Legislation Termination protection composites (EPLex 0-1, B-READY 0-100, OECD 0-6); 44 countries in Middle East & Africa · 2025 EPLex updated periodically by ILO; B-READY released by World Bank in 2025; OECD EPL maintained as a multi-year panel for member countries.
Read our methodology for how this data is sourced, computed, and verified. ILO EPLex eplex.ilo.org