Data for 2024
Composite Rate of Labour Underutilisation (LU4), 2024
2024, 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), 2024 covers 76 countries on 3 measures. Malawi is highest, at 49.816; Thailand is lowest, at 1.495. The middle country reads 12.559. Against 2023, 68 values changed (31 up, 37 down), 8 countries joined, 11 left.
Composite Rate of Labour Underutilisation (LU4) · Data for 2024
HighestMalawi
49.816
LowestThailand
1.495Shaded 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), 2024, 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 76 countries · select a heading to sort
| derived | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MalawiMWIEastern Africa | 49.816 | 55.523 | 43.488 | Break in series |
| 2 |  South AfricaZAFSouthern Africa | 44.563 | 48.350 | 41.125 | — |
| 3 |  RwandaRWAEastern Africa | 40.042 | 46.892 | 32.956 | — |
| 4 |  SenegalSENWestern Africa | 34.348 | 50.705 | 20.342 | — |
| 5 |  PalestinePSEWestern Asia | 33.988 | 32.990 | 34.223 | Break in series |
| 6 |  LesothoLSOSouthern Africa | 32.514 | 38.598 | 26.921 | — |
| 7 |  AngolaAGOMiddle Africa | 30.537 | 31.533 | 29.463 | — |
| 8 |  ZimbabweZWEEastern Africa | 25.957 | 29.117 | 22.794 | — |
| 9 |  GuatemalaGTMCentral America | 23.543 | 35.116 | 12.673 | Break in series |
| 10 |  BahamasBHSCaribbean | 22.781 | 22.817 | 22.744 | — |
| 11 |  GuyanaGUYSouth America | 22.160 | 29.782 | 16.536 | — |
| 12 |  ChileCHLSouth America | 21.875 | 25.725 | 18.789 | — |
| 13 |  GeorgiaGEOWestern Asia | 20.324 | 20.580 | 20.082 | — |
| 14 |  JordanJORWestern Asia | 20.160 | 30.481 | 17.391 | — |
| 15 |  FinlandFINNorthern Europe | 20.058 | 19.840 | 20.261 | — |
| 16 |  SpainESPSouthern Europe | 19.887 | 24.305 | 15.855 | — |
| 17 |  UruguayURYSouth America | 18.811 | 22.435 | 15.726 | — |
| 18 |  GhanaGHAWestern Africa | 18.752 | 20.737 | 16.222 | — |
| 19 |  ZambiaZMBEastern Africa | 18.749 | 21.293 | 16.478 | — |
| 20 |  FranceFRAWestern Europe | 17.981 | 19.160 | 16.851 | — |
| 21 |  HondurasHNDCentral America | 17.935 | 26.921 | 11.084 | — |
| 22 |  North MacedoniaMKDSouthern Europe | 17.840 | 16.135 | 19.071 | — |
| 23 |  SwedenSWENorthern Europe | 17.477 | 18.465 | 16.576 | — |
| 24 |  PanamaPANCentral America | 16.832 | 19.045 | 15.168 | — |
| 25 |  MontenegroMNESouthern Europe | 16.187 | 17.410 | 15.175 | — |
| 26 |  BrazilBRASouth America | 16.114 | 20.075 | 12.911 | — |
| 27 |  ItalyITASouthern Europe | 15.697 | 19.269 | 12.907 | — |
| 28 |  IrelandIRLNorthern Europe | 15.567 | 17.179 | 14.094 | — |
| 29 |  GreeceGRCSouthern Europe | 14.973 | 19.187 | 11.554 | — |
| 30 |  ColombiaCOLSouth America | 14.815 | 18.657 | 11.954 | — |
| 31 |  LuxembourgLUXWestern Europe | 14.427 | 15.678 | 13.293 | — |
| 32 |  Bosnia and HerzegovinaBIHSouthern Europe | 14.317 | 17.994 | 11.642 | — |
| 33 |  ArgentinaARGSouth America | 14.111 | 17.009 | 11.787 | — |
| 34 |  AlbaniaALBSouthern Europe | 13.165 | 13.330 | 13.024 | — |
| 35 |  PortugalPRTSouthern Europe | 13.131 | 14.321 | 11.958 | — |
| 36 |  DenmarkDNKNorthern Europe | 12.856 | 13.459 | 12.317 | — |
| 37 |  EstoniaESTNorthern Europe | 12.746 | 12.820 | 12.671 | — |
| 38 |  BarbadosBRBCaribbean | 12.582 | 11.785 | 13.363 | — |
| 39 |  SwitzerlandCHEWestern Europe | 12.535 | 15.517 | 9.838 | — |
| 40 |  Dominican RepublicDOMCaribbean | 12.240 | 18.031 | 7.584 | — |
| 41 |  NetherlandsNLDWestern Europe | 11.907 | 13.316 | 10.644 | — |
| 42 |  FijiFJIMelanesia | 11.672 | 16.264 | 9.186 | — |
| 43 |  NigeriaNGAWestern Africa | 11.566 | 14.428 | 8.593 | Break in series |
| 44 |  LatviaLVANorthern Europe | 11.462 | 11.251 | 11.675 | — |
| 45 |  BelgiumBELWestern Europe | 11.399 | 11.977 | 10.888 | — |
| 46 |  BoliviaBOLSouth America | 10.945 | 13.252 | 8.782 | — |
| 47 |  United KingdomGBRNorthern Europe | 10.911 | 11.840 | 10.036 | — |
| 48 |  CyprusCYPWestern Asia | 10.589 | 10.748 | 10.439 | — |
| 49 |  AustriaAUTWestern Europe | 10.552 | 11.172 | 9.996 | — |
| 50 |  NorwayNORNorthern Europe | 10.506 | 11.456 | 9.661 | — |
| 51 |  LithuaniaLTUNorthern Europe | 10.413 | 10.001 | 10.806 | — |
| 52 |  BruneiBRNSouth-eastern Asia | 10.318 | 12.515 | 8.814 | — |
| 53 |  PhilippinesPHLSouth-eastern Asia | 10.310 | 10.222 | 10.371 | — |
| 54 |  CroatiaHRVSouthern Europe | 8.910 | 9.268 | 8.587 | — |
| 55 |  RomaniaROUEastern Europe | 8.797 | 9.211 | 8.483 | — |
| 56 |  MaliMLIWestern Africa | 8.462 | 11.686 | 6.369 | — |
| 57 |  CanadaCANNorthern America | 8.287 | 8.147 | 8.412 | — |
| 58 |  SloveniaSVNSouthern Europe | 8.207 | 8.696 | 7.796 | — |
| 59 |  BangladeshBGDSouthern Asia | 7.798 | 10.906 | 6.217 | — |
| 60 |  SingaporeSGPSouth-eastern Asia | 7.762 | 8.433 | 7.150 | — |
| 61 |  Sri LankaLKASouthern Asia | 7.598 | 11.513 | 5.587 | — |
| 62 |  MongoliaMNGEastern Asia | 7.572 | 7.523 | 7.612 | — |
| 63 |  MaltaMLTSouthern Europe | 7.176 | 7.506 | 6.950 | — |
| 64 |  El SalvadorSLVCentral America | 7.174 | 7.770 | 6.734 | — |
| 65 |  GermanyDEUWestern Europe | 7.077 | 7.470 | 6.731 | — |
| 66 |  HungaryHUNEastern Europe | 6.431 | 6.619 | 6.264 | — |
| 67 |  BulgariaBGREastern Europe | 6.303 | 6.181 | 6.411 | — |
| 68 |  SeychellesSYCEastern Africa | 6.186 | 5.449 | 6.961 | — |
| 69 |  United StatesUSANorthern America | 5.645 | 5.448 | 5.820 | — |
| 70 |  PolandPOLEastern Europe | 5.330 | 5.881 | 4.857 | — |
| 71 |  BhutanBTNSouthern Asia | 5.056 | 6.193 | 4.310 | — |
| 72 |  BelarusBLREastern Europe | 4.737 | 4.326 | 5.154 | — |
| 73 |  CzechiaCZEEastern Europe | 3.804 | 4.682 | 3.072 | — |
| 74 |  MoldovaMDAEastern Europe | 3.495 | 3.004 | 4.080 | — |
| 75 |  VietnamVNMSouth-eastern Asia | 3.235 | 3.074 | 3.384 | — |
| 76 | ThailandTHASouth-eastern Asia | 1.495 | 1.454 | 1.530 | — |
02In 2024
At either end
The 5 countries at each end of the headline, then the highest and lowest on each other measure.
Highest
- 1Malawi49.816
- 2South Africa44.563
- 3Rwanda40.042
- 4Senegal34.348
- 5Palestine33.988
A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 12.559. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.
Each measure’s ends
032023 → 2024
Since 2023
- +8 / −11countries joined / left
- 68values changed, of 68 in both
- 31 · 37rose · fell
- 0unchanged
Rose most
Fell most
- Honduras22.650 → 17.935−4.715
- Montenegro20.754 → 16.187−4.567
- Ghana22.197 → 18.752−3.445
- Sri Lanka10.068 → 7.598−2.470
- Brunei12.563 → 10.318−2.245
+ Argentina+ Bahamas+ Bhutan+ Fiji+ Guyana+ Lesotho+ Malawi+ Palestine
− Antigua and Barbuda
− Burkina Faso
− Gambia
− Grenada
− Indonesia
− Iceland
− Kyrgyzstan
− Kiribati
− Slovakia
− Eswatini
− Tonga04Caveats
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 2024.
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
76 rows · 4.0 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download labour-underutilisation-2024-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) (2024). Composite Rate of Labour Underutilisation (LU4), 2024 [data set], describing 2024. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/labour-underutilisation/2024
0611 held
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Composite Rate of Labour Underutilisation (LU4): every year11 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country