Data for 2021
Composite Rate of Labour Underutilisation (LU4), 2021
2021, 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), 2021 covers 79 countries on 3 measures. Eswatini is highest, at 49.29; Moldova is lowest, at 2.34. The middle country reads 16.97. Against 2020, 63 values changed (22 up, 41 down), 16 countries joined, 6 left.
Composite Rate of Labour Underutilisation (LU4) · Data for 2021
HighestEswatini
49.29
LowestMoldova
2.34Shaded 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), 2021, 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 79 countries · select a heading to sort
| derived | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | EswatiniSWZSouthern Africa | 49.29 | 52.879 | 45.045 | — |
| 2 |  South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa | 48.50 | 53.084 | 44.448 | — |
| 3 |  HondurasHNDCentral America | 46.43 | 58.246 | 35.068 | — |
| 4 |  RwandaRWAEastern Africa | 40.51 | 46.281 | 34.547 | — |
| 5 |  EthiopiaETHEastern Africa | 34.99 | 38.647 | 32.091 | — |
| 6 |  PalestinePSEWestern Asia | 34.27 | 56.271 | 27.715 | — |
| 7 |  AngolaAGOMiddle Africa | 32.73 | 33.977 | 31.384 | — |
| 8 |  MontenegroMNESouthern Europe | 31.19 | 31.643 | 30.814 | — |
| 9 |  GuyanaGUYSouth America | 30.93 | 37.896 | 25.754 | — |
| 10 |  IraqIRQWestern Asia | 30.12 | 49.320 | 26.319 | — |
| 11 |  GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia | 27.33 | 27.871 | 26.820 | — |
| 12 |  Costa RicaCRICentral America | 27.08 | 34.487 | 21.689 | — |
| 13 |  BrazilBRASouth America | 27.00 | 33.645 | 21.566 | — |
| 14 |  ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa | 26.07 | 27.519 | 24.607 | — |
| 15 |  SpainESPSouthern Europe | 25.46 | 30.601 | 20.798 | — |
| 16 |  ChileCHLSouth America | 24.17 | 27.740 | 21.492 | — |
| 17 |  JordanJORWestern Asia | 24.08 | 33.454 | 22.075 | — |
| 18 |  North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe | 23.84 | 24.145 | 23.633 | — |
| 19 |  KenyaKENEastern Africa | 23.43 | 28.158 | 18.669 | — |
| 20 |  GreeceGRCSouthern Europe | 23.27 | 29.312 | 18.304 | — |
| 21 |  ItalyITASouthern Europe | 22.55 | 27.130 | 18.925 | — |
| 22 |  Timor-LesteTLSSouth-eastern Asia | 21.96 | 25.896 | 19.072 | — |
| 23 |  AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe | 21.25 | 23.099 | 19.706 | — |
| 24 |  ColombiaCOLSouth America | 21.21 | 27.655 | 16.576 | — |
| 25 |  UruguayURYSouth America | 20.93 | 24.147 | 18.075 | Break in series |
| 26 |  BarbadosBRBCaribbean | 20.75 | 21.453 | 20.063 | — |
| 27 |  PanamaPANCentral America | 20.69 | 19.784 | 21.314 | Break in series |
| 28 |  GrenadaGRDCaribbean | 19.32 | 21.683 | 17.334 | — |
| 29 |  FranceFRAWestern Europe | 19.25 | 20.641 | 17.906 | — |
| 30 |  AfghanistanAFGSouthern Asia | 19.23 | 26.642 | 16.504 | — |
| 31 |  Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe | 19.01 | 23.096 | 16.099 | Break in series |
| 32 |  ZambiaZMBEastern Africa | 18.92 | 21.280 | 16.779 | — |
| 33 |  TongaTONPolynesia | 18.58 | 21.044 | 16.406 | — |
| 34 |  ComorosCOMEastern Africa | 18.46 | 23.517 | 14.087 | — |
| 35 |  IndonesiaIDNSouth-eastern Asia | 18.27 | 19.592 | 17.368 | Break in series |
| 36 |  SwedenSWENorthern Europe | 17.94 | 19.314 | 16.709 | — |
| 37 |  Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean | 17.89 | 25.447 | 11.879 | — |
| 38 |  FinlandFINNorthern Europe | 17.26 | 17.377 | 17.159 | — |
| 39 |  PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia | 17.09 | 16.925 | 17.188 | Break in series |
| 40 |  CyprusCYPWestern Asia | 16.97 | 17.978 | 16.056 | — |
| 41 |  PortugalPRTSouthern Europe | 15.88 | 16.741 | 15.034 | — |
| 42 |  IrelandIRLNorthern Europe | 15.55 | 17.243 | 14.075 | — |
| 43 |  BoliviaBOLSouth America | 14.84 | 17.298 | 12.630 | Break in series |
| 44 |  LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe | 14.39 | 17.308 | 11.799 | — |
| 45 |  LatviaLVANorthern Europe | 14.20 | 13.846 | 14.548 | — |
| 46 |  NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe | 14.00 | 16.335 | 11.905 | — |
| 47 |  CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe | 13.73 | 14.895 | 12.701 | — |
| 48 |  IcelandISLNorthern Europe | 13.17 | 14.470 | 12.054 | — |
| 49 |  MongoliaMNGEastern Asia | 12.98 | 12.837 | 13.093 | — |
| 50 |  United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe | 12.88 | 14.070 | 11.795 | — |
| 51 |  BelgiumBELWestern Europe | 12.43 | 12.912 | 12.008 | — |
| 52 |  BruneiBRNSouth-eastern Asia | 12.36 | 15.558 | 10.157 | — |
| 53 |  AustriaAUTWestern Europe | 12.30 | 13.723 | 11.031 | — |
| 54 |  NorwayNORNorthern Europe | 11.10 | 12.175 | 10.127 | — |
| 55 |  EstoniaESTNorthern Europe | 10.90 | 10.900 | 10.901 | — |
| 56 |  LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe | 10.74 | 10.342 | 11.135 | — |
| 57 |  SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe | 10.54 | 11.840 | 9.413 | — |
| 58 |  DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe | 10.34 | 11.110 | 9.647 | — |
| 59 |  SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia | 10.31 | 11.861 | 8.928 | — |
| 60 |  El SalvadorSLVCentral America | 9.53 | 10.030 | 9.175 | — |
| 61 |  UgandaUGAEastern Africa | 9.51 | 9.812 | 9.219 | — |
| 62 |  CanadaCANNorthern America | 9.47 | 9.508 | 9.441 | — |
| 63 |  RomaniaROUEastern Europe | 9.45 | 9.182 | 9.649 | — |
| 64 |  Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia | 9.23 | 13.865 | 6.752 | — |
| 65 |  SlovakiaSVKEastern Europe | 9.05 | 9.542 | 8.610 | Break in series |
| 66 |  BulgariaBGREastern Europe | 8.92 | 8.738 | 9.083 | — |
| 67 |  PakistanPAKSouthern Asia | 8.32 | 11.799 | 7.265 | — |
| 68 |  MaltaMLTSouthern Europe | 8.04 | 7.980 | 8.080 | — |
| 69 |  GermanyDEUWestern Europe | 7.51 | 7.813 | 7.251 | — |
| 70 |  HungaryHUNEastern Europe | 7.23 | 7.900 | 6.642 | — |
| 71 |  United StatesUSANorthern America | 7.20 | 6.960 | 7.412 | — |
| 72 |  BelarusBLREastern Europe | 6.93 | 6.150 | 7.707 | — |
| 73 |  GuatemalaGTMCentral America | 6.89 | 8.930 | 5.711 | — |
| 74 |  KyrgyzstanKGZCentral Asia | 6.89 | 8.476 | 5.896 | — |
| 75 |  PolandPOLEastern Europe | 6.05 | 6.612 | 5.580 | — |
| 76 |  VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia | 5.85 | 5.617 | 6.057 | — |
| 77 |  CzechiaCZEEastern Europe | 4.02 | 5.052 | 3.200 | — |
| 78 |  ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia | 3.49 | 3.366 | 3.588 | — |
| 79 | MoldovaMDAEastern Europe | 2.34 | 1.815 | 2.907 | — |
02In 2021
At either end
The 5 countries at each end of the headline, then the highest and lowest on each other measure.
Highest
- 1Eswatini49.29
- 2South Africa48.50
- 3Honduras46.43
- 4Rwanda40.51
- 5Ethiopia34.99
A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 16.97. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.
Each measure’s ends
032020 → 2021
Since 2020
- +16 / −6countries joined / left
- 63values changed, of 63 in both
- 22 · 41rose · fell
- 0unchanged
Rose most
- Georgia23.56 → 27.33+3.77
- South Africa45.78 → 48.50+2.72
- Netherlands11.50 → 14.00+2.51
- Indonesia16.24 → 18.27+2.03
- Sweden16.06 → 17.94+1.88
Fell most
- Afghanistan40.30 → 19.23−21.07
- Costa Rica41.55 → 27.08−14.47
- Chile31.84 → 24.17−7.67
- Bosnia and Herzegovina25.76 → 19.01−6.75
- Grenada23.97 → 19.32−4.66
+ Bolivia+ Barbados+ Colombia+ Comoros+ Ethiopia+ Guatemala+ Iraq+ Kenya+ Pakistan+ Panama+ Singapore+ Eswatini+ Timor-Leste+ Tonga+ Uganda+ Zimbabwe
− Mali
− Myanmar
− Montserrat
− New Caledonia
− Serbia
− Seychelles04Caveats
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 2021.
72 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
79 rows · 4.1 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download labour-underutilisation-2021-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) (2021). Composite Rate of Labour Underutilisation (LU4), 2021 [data set], describing 2021. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/labour-underutilisation/2021
0611 held
Other years
‹ The year before
Composite Rate of Labour Underutilisation (LU4), 202069 countries
The year after ›
Composite Rate of Labour Underutilisation (LU4), 202275 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