Data for 2020
Composite Rate of Labour Underutilisation (LU4), 2020
2020, as ILO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten
The unemployment rate counts only people who are actively looking for work and could start at once. This broader rate also counts people working fewer hours than they want and people who want a job but have stopped looking or cannot start yet — the International Labour Organization’s widest measure of work people want and do not have.
Composite Rate of Labour Underutilisation (LU4), 2020 covers 69 countries on 3 measures. Honduras is highest, at 49.82; Thailand is lowest, at 2.99. The middle country reads 16.06. Against 2019, 65 values changed (56 up, 9 down), 4 countries joined, 21 left.
Composite Rate of Labour Underutilisation (LU4) · Data for 2020
HighestHonduras
49.82
LowestThailand
2.99Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the lowest end.
01Position · derived
The table
Every country and every column of Composite Rate of Labour Underutilisation (LU4), 2020, as published. ILO ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.
Showing 25 of 69 countries · select a heading to sort
| derived | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | HondurasHNDCentral America | 49.82 | 63.22 | 36.086 | Break in series |
| 2 |  South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa | 45.78 | 49.77 | 42.278 | — |
| 3 |  Costa RicaCRICentral America | 41.55 | 48.85 | 36.292 | — |
| 4 |  AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia | 40.30 | 62.06 | 32.092 | Break in series |
| 5 |  RwandaRWAEastern Africa | 40.20 | 45.70 | 34.502 | — |
| 6 |  PalestinePSEWestern Asia | 36.30 | 57.02 | 29.983 | — |
| 7 |  AngolaAGOMiddle Africa | 32.89 | 34.24 | 31.432 | — |
| 8 |  ChileCHLSouth America | 31.84 | 36.44 | 28.289 | Break in series |
| 9 |  MontenegroMNESouthern Europe | 31.28 | 32.62 | 30.169 | — |
| 10 |  GuyanaGUYSouth America | 29.27 | 33.97 | 25.598 | — |
| 11 |  BrazilBRASouth America | 28.38 | 34.11 | 23.757 | — |
| 12 |  New CaledoniaNCLMelanesia | 28.01 | 30.64 | 25.684 | — |
| 13 |  ItalyITASouthern Europe | 26.24 | 30.16 | 23.148 | — |
| 14 |  SpainESPSouthern Europe | 25.89 | 30.91 | 21.356 | — |
| 15 |  Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe | 25.76 | 31.35 | 21.779 | Break in series |
| 16 |  North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe | 24.75 | 25.08 | 24.519 | — |
| 17 |  AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe | 24.29 | 25.14 | 23.573 | — |
| 18 |  GreeceGRCSouthern Europe | 24.16 | 29.78 | 19.463 | — |
| 19 |  GrenadaGRDCaribbean | 23.97 | 29.20 | 19.398 | — |
| 20 |  JordanJORWestern Asia | 23.81 | 33.17 | 21.777 | — |
| 21 |  GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia | 23.56 | 22.65 | 24.375 | Break in series |
| 22 |  UruguayURYSouth America | 21.28 | 24.29 | 18.610 | Break in series |
| 23 |  SerbiaSRBSouthern Europe | 20.38 | 21.23 | 19.687 | — |
| 24 |  PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia | 19.15 | 17.84 | 19.962 | — |
| 25 |  ZambiaZMBEastern Africa | 19.03 | 21.10 | 17.075 | — |
| 26 |  Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean | 18.72 | 25.41 | 13.543 | Break in series |
| 27 |  FranceFRAWestern Europe | 18.68 | 20.06 | 17.366 | — |
| 28 |  FinlandFINNorthern Europe | 18.65 | 18.83 | 18.491 | — |
| 29 |  IrelandIRLNorthern Europe | 17.61 | 19.12 | 16.311 | — |
| 30 |  PortugalPRTSouthern Europe | 16.96 | 18.03 | 15.930 | — |
| 31 |  BruneiBRNSouth-eastern Asia | 16.59 | 20.58 | 13.940 | — |
| 32 |  CyprusCYPWestern Asia | 16.40 | 17.47 | 15.447 | — |
| 33 |  IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia | 16.24 | 17.86 | 15.139 | — |
| 34 |  MontserratMSRCaribbean | 16.19 | 16.10 | 16.267 | — |
| 35 |  SwedenSWENorthern Europe | 16.06 | 17.02 | 15.187 | — |
| 36 |  CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe | 14.86 | 17.10 | 12.864 | — |
| 37 |  LatviaLVANorthern Europe | 14.50 | 14.39 | 14.606 | — |
| 38 |  LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe | 13.42 | 14.82 | 12.181 | — |
| 39 |  IcelandISLNorthern Europe | 13.29 | 14.51 | 12.252 | — |
| 40 |  United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe | 12.77 | 13.97 | 11.682 | — |
| 41 |  AustriaAUTWestern Europe | 12.66 | 13.96 | 11.496 | — |
| 42 |  EstoniaESTNorthern Europe | 12.48 | 12.85 | 12.125 | — |
| 43 |  DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe | 12.20 | 13.50 | 11.037 | — |
| 44 |  CanadaCANNorthern America | 11.75 | 11.92 | 11.589 | — |
| 45 |  BelgiumBELWestern Europe | 11.61 | 12.22 | 11.075 | — |
| 46 |  NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe | 11.50 | 12.91 | 10.246 | — |
| 47 |  NorwayNORNorthern Europe | 11.42 | 12.04 | 10.865 | — |
| 48 |  MongoliaMNGEastern Asia | 11.23 | 11.69 | 10.818 | — |
| 49 |  United StatesUSANorthern America | 11.17 | 11.37 | 11.001 | Break in series |
| 50 |  LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe | 11.04 | 10.48 | 11.595 | — |
| 51 |  El SalvadorSLVCentral America | 11.03 | 11.85 | 10.450 | — |
| 52 |  SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe | 10.16 | 11.34 | 9.151 | — |
| 53 |  GermanyDEUWestern Europe | 10.00 | 10.93 | 9.174 | — |
| 54 |  Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia | 9.90 | 14.98 | 7.213 | — |
| 55 |  KyrgyzstanKGZCentral Asia | 9.75 | 11.54 | 8.600 | — |
| 56 |  MaltaMLTSouthern Europe | 9.54 | 10.30 | 9.023 | — |
| 57 |  SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe | 8.97 | 9.73 | 8.331 | — |
| 58 |  BulgariaBGREastern Europe | 8.36 | 8.12 | 8.562 | — |
| 59 |  RomaniaROUEastern Europe | 8.33 | 8.16 | 8.446 | — |
| 60 |  HungaryHUNEastern Europe | 7.95 | 8.87 | 7.201 | — |
| 61 |  BelarusBLREastern Europe | 7.21 | 6.24 | 8.144 | — |
| 62 |  MaliMLIWestern Africa | 7.10 | 9.40 | 5.419 | — |
| 63 |  SeychellesSYCEastern Africa | 6.81 | 5.28 | 8.386 | — |
| 64 |  PolandPOLEastern Europe | 5.79 | 6.53 | 5.190 | — |
| 65 |  VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia | 4.60 | 4.98 | 4.267 | — |
| 66 |  MoldovaMDAEastern Europe | 3.79 | 2.98 | 4.653 | — |
| 67 |  CzechiaCZEEastern Europe | 3.69 | 4.48 | 3.057 | — |
| 68 |  MyanmarMMRSouth-eastern Asia | 3.50 | 4.89 | 2.516 | — |
| 69 | ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia | 2.99 | 2.82 | 3.136 | — |
02In 2020
At either end
The 5 countries at each end of the headline, then the highest and lowest on each other measure.
Highest
- 1Honduras49.82
- 2South Africa45.78
- 3Costa Rica41.55
- 4Afghanistan40.30
- 5Rwanda40.20
A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 16.06. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.
Each measure’s ends
Women (%)
Highest
Honduras63.22Lowest
Thailand2.82Middle country: 17.02
Men (%)
Highest
South Africa42.278Lowest
Myanmar2.516Middle country: 13.940
032019 → 2020
Since 2019
- +4 / −21countries joined / left
- 65values changed, of 65 in both
- 56 · 9rose · fell
- 0unchanged
Rose most
- Honduras24.09 → 49.82+25.73
- Costa Rica25.28 → 41.55+16.27
- Philippines11.53 → 19.15+7.62
- Chile24.69 → 31.84+7.15
- United States5.17 → 11.17+6.01
Fell most
- El Salvador13.11 → 11.03−2.08
- Mongolia13.30 → 11.23−2.07
- Guyana30.20 → 29.27−0.93
- Rwanda40.77 → 40.20−0.57
- Greece24.73 → 24.16−0.57
+ Afghanistan+ Grenada+ Mali+ Montserrat
− United Arab Emirates
− Bolivia
− Barbados
− Côte d’Ivoire
− Cook Islands
− Colombia
− Guatemala
− Kenya
− Cambodia
− Lebanon
− Lesotho
− Maldives
− Marshall Islands
− Mauritius
− Nigeria
− Panama
− Senegal
− Somalia
− Tunisia
− Vanuatu
− Zimbabwe04Caveats
Read before you use
One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from ILO’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method, so a change from one year to the next is not a revision. It can differ from what was first published for 2020.
61 empty cells
An empty cell means the publisher gave no figure. It is never a zero.
Some readings carry a flag
ILO marks readings it considers estimates or provisional. The flags in this file: Break in series.
05The files
Download and cite
- .csv
For a spreadsheet or code
69 rows · 3.8 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download labour-underutilisation-2020-nations-inquiry.csv - ↗
The publisher’s original
ILO’s own file, on its own site.
https://rplumber.ilo.org/data/indicator/?id=LUU_XLU4_SEX_RT&format=.csv&channel=ilostat
What this site changed: Reshaped to one row per country, with its ISO code; no value recalculated, rescaled or rounded. In full
Licence: CC BY 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words
Cite this edition
International Labour Organization (ILO) (2020). Composite Rate of Labour Underutilisation (LU4), 2020 [data set], describing 2020. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/labour-underutilisation/2020
0611 held
Other years
‹ The year before
Composite Rate of Labour Underutilisation (LU4), 201986 countries
The year after ›
Composite Rate of Labour Underutilisation (LU4), 202179 countries
All of them
Composite Rate of Labour Underutilisation (LU4): every year11 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country