Data for 1998

Unemployment Rate, 1998

Name: Unemployment Rate, 1998
Creator: International Labour Organization (ILO)
License: https://www.ilo.org/rights-and-permissions

1998, as ILO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Unemployment Rate, 1998 covers 187 countries. North Macedonia is highest, at 34.500; Pakistan is lowest, at 0.620. The middle country reads 7.332. Against 1997, 184 values changed (102 up, 82 down), the same countries are covered.

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Unemployment Rate · Data for 1998

HighestNorth Macedonia

34.500

LowestPakistan

0.620

Shaded by value in five groups of equal size, darkest at the lowest end.

187countries
1measure
1998the year it describes
185distinct values3 decimals, as published
Sep 6, 2026read from the publisher
CC BY 4.0licence

01Position · derived

The table

Every country and every column of Unemployment Rate, 1998, as published. ILO ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. “=” marks a shared position.

Search this table

Showing 25 of 187 countries · select a heading to sort

Unemployment Rate, 1998: every country, as published by International Labour Organization (ILO).
derived
1	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	34.500
2	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	30.210
3	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	27.027
4	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	26.850
5	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	23.494
6	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	23.214
7	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	23.083
8	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	22.739
9	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	21.600
10	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	20.860
11	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	20.521
12	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	20.042
13	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	19.898
14	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	19.192
15	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	18.825
16	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	18.673
17	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	18.519
18	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	17.152
19	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	16.290
20	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	15.913
21	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	15.473
22	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	15.352
23	Colombia`COL`South America	15.000
24	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	14.530
25	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	14.454
26	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	14.398
27	Belize`BLZ`Central America	14.310
28	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	14.210
29	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	14.000
30	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	13.841
31	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	13.711
32	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	13.700
33	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	13.460
34	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	13.359
35	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	13.300
36	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	13.261
37	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	13.214
38	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	13.130
39	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	13.055
40	Argentina`ARG`South America	12.650
41	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	12.421
42	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	12.400
43	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	12.227
=44	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	12.200
=44	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	12.200
46	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	12.117
47	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	12.095
48	France`FRA`Western Europe	12.074
49	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	12.000
50	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	11.791
51	Guyana`GUY`South America	11.687
52	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	11.392
53	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	11.320
54	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	11.255
55	Venezuela`VEN`South America	11.150
56	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	10.828
57	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	10.749
58	Suriname`SUR`South America	10.630
59	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	10.526
60	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	10.451
61	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	10.446
62	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	10.358
63	Brazil`BRA`South America	10.150
=64	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	10.000
=64	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	10.000
66	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	9.975
67	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	9.935
68	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	9.898
69	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	9.787
70	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	9.510
71	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	9.400
72	Uruguay`URY`South America	9.362
73	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	9.322
74	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	9.253
75	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	9.170
76	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	8.941
77	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	8.925
78	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	8.571
79	Canada`CAN`Northern America	8.278
80	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	8.223
81	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	8.200
82	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	8.064
83	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	8.030
84	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	7.869
85	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	7.740
86	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	7.718
87	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	7.699
88	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	7.695
89	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	7.684
90	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	7.650
91	India`IND`Southern Asia	7.596
92	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	7.390
93	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	7.376
94	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	7.332
95	Chile`CHL`South America	7.307
96	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	7.203
97	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	7.165
98	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	7.100
99	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	6.963
100	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	6.888
101	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	6.846
102	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	6.455
103	Panama`PAN`Central America	6.397
104	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	6.381
105	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	6.326
106	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	6.304
107	Channel Islands`CHI`Northern Europe	6.278
108	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	6.230
109	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	6.198
110	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	5.901
111	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	5.773
112	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	5.752
113	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	5.630
114	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	5.501
115	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	5.483
116	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	5.459
117	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	5.356
118	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	5.330
119	Peru`PER`South America	5.099
120	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	5.039
121	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	4.921
122	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	4.752
123	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	4.746
124	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	4.650
125	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	4.640
126	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	4.614
127	Macau`MAC`Eastern Asia	4.607
128	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	4.580
129	United States`USA`Northern America	4.511
130	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	4.501
131	Paraguay`PRY`South America	4.417
132	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	4.394
133	Ecuador`ECU`South America	4.389
134	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	4.346
135	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	4.242
136	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	4.127
137	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	4.100
138	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	4.078
139	Honduras`HND`Central America	4.020
140	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	3.922
141	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	3.780
142	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	3.737
143	Mexico`MEX`Central America	3.733
144	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	3.697
145	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	3.568
146	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	3.500
147	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	3.481
148	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	3.461
149	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	3.424
150	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	3.410
151	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	3.404
152	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	3.349
153	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	3.348
154	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	3.300
155	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	3.283
156	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	3.240
157	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	3.200
158	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	3.195
159	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	3.156
160	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	3.069
161	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	2.893
162	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	2.860
163	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	2.843
164	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	2.763
165	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	2.751
166	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	2.640
167	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	2.440
168	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	2.293
169	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	2.290
170	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	2.155
171	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	2.145
172	Bolivia`BOL`South America	2.121
173	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	2.068
174	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	2.061
175	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	1.861
176	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	1.489
177	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	1.400
178	Niger`NER`Western Africa	1.381
179	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	1.342
180	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	1.114
181	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	1.048
182	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.870
183	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.772
184	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.725
185	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.712
186	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	0.700
187	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.620

02In 1998

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

Lowest

187Pakistan0.620
186Kuwait0.700
185Cambodia0.712
184Chad0.725
183Myanmar0.772

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 7.332. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

031997 → 1998

Since 1997

What changed between 1997 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
184values changed, of 187 in both
102 · 82rose · fell
3unchanged

Rose most

South Korea2.608 → 6.963+4.355
Albania16.872 → 20.042+3.170
Georgia11.500 → 14.530+3.030
Colombia12.140 → 15.000+2.860
Thailand0.873 → 3.404+2.531

Fell most

Belarus17.100 → 14.000−3.100
Ireland10.191 → 7.699−2.492
Barbados14.610 → 12.400−2.210
Argentina14.820 → 12.650−2.170
Bahamas9.760 → 7.650−2.110

Both years come from the same release, so a difference here is a change in the data, not a revision of it. Every country’s full history is charted on the statistic page.

04Caveats

Read before you use

What this edition’s numbers are and are not, worked out from the file itself.

How values are stored

One year of the 2026 release
Every year in this series comes from ILO’s 2026 release, recalculated on one method. It can differ from what was first published for 1998.
185 distinct values among 187
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 12.200. Countries sharing a value share a position too.
The position is ours
ILO publishes values only; the order is this site’s.
Nothing missing
Every one of the 187 countries has every column.

05The files

Download and cite

The table as a file, digit for digit, what this site changed, and a citation for this edition.

Licence in full

.csv
For a spreadsheet or code
187 rows · 5.1 KB · UTF-8, opens in Excel
Opens with 11 lines of source notes; the table starts on row 13.
Download unemployment-rate-1998-nations-inquiry.csv
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The publisher’s original
ILO’s own file, on its own site.
SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS

What this site changed: Reshaped into one row per country: regional and income-group totals are left out, only the columns listed are kept, each row gets its ISO 3166 code, and some country names are brought to one spelling. No value is recalculated, rescaled or rounded.

Licence: CC BY 4.0 · what it allows, in plain words

Cite this edition

International Labour Organization (ILO) (1998). Unemployment Rate, 1998 [data set], describing 1998. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/unemployment-rate/1998

0635 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Unemployment Rate, 1997
187 countries
The year after ›
Unemployment Rate, 1999
187 countries
All of them
Unemployment Rate: every year
35 held, with the data dictionary, coverage and licence.
How it has moved, charted by country

07Questions