Data for 2008

Unemployment Rate, 2008

Name: Unemployment Rate, 2008
Creator: International Labour Organization (ILO)
License: https://www.ilo.org/rights-and-permissions

2008, as ILO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Unemployment Rate, 2008 covers 187 countries. North Macedonia is highest, at 33.930; Qatar is lowest, at 0.310. The middle country reads 5.787. Against 2007, 186 values changed (88 up, 98 down), the same countries are covered.

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Unemployment Rate · Data for 2008

HighestNorth Macedonia

33.930

LowestQatar

0.310

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

187countries
1measure
2008the year it describes
186distinct 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, 2008, 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, 2008: every country, as published by International Labour Organization (ILO).
derived
1	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	33.930
2	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	27.891
3	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	26.183
4	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	23.405
5	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	22.913
6	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	22.407
7	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	22.005
8	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	19.962
9	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	19.212
10	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	19.041
11	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	18.790
12	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	18.714
13	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	17.870
14	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	17.150
15	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	17.100
16	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	16.293
17	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	16.204
18	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	16.152
19	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	15.851
20	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	15.566
21	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	15.421
22	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	14.360
23	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	13.670
24	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	13.307
25	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	13.060
26	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	12.720
27	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	12.700
28	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	12.656
29	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	12.444
30	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	12.298
31	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	11.760
32	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	11.517
33	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	11.480
34	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	11.330
35	Colombia`COL`South America	11.273
36	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	11.254
37	Guyana`GUY`South America	11.018
38	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	10.965
39	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	10.940
40	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	10.630
41	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	10.597
42	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	10.361
43	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	10.065
44	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	9.715
45	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	9.605
46	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	9.570
47	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	9.514
48	Chile`CHL`South America	9.285
49	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	8.892
50	Suriname`SUR`South America	8.854
51	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	8.530
52	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	8.517
53	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	8.466
54	Brazil`BRA`South America	8.268
=55	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	8.180
=55	Belize`BLZ`Central America	8.180
57	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	8.120
58	Uruguay`URY`South America	8.025
59	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	7.930
60	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	7.879
61	Argentina`ARG`South America	7.837
62	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	7.817
63	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	7.739
64	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	7.704
65	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	7.666
66	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	7.664
67	India`IND`Southern Asia	7.629
68	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	7.571
69	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	7.553
70	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	7.508
71	France`FRA`Western Europe	7.386
72	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	7.208
73	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	7.170
74	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	7.069
75	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	6.976
76	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	6.774
77	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	6.728
78	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	6.723
79	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	6.666
80	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	6.630
81	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	6.382
82	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	6.369
83	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	6.363
84	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	6.312
85	Canada`CAN`Northern America	6.284
86	Venezuela`VEN`South America	6.245
87	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	6.235
88	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	6.205
89	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	6.200
90	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	5.977
91	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	5.880
92	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	5.860
93	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	5.826
94	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	5.787
95	United States`USA`Northern America	5.784
96	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	5.748
97	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	5.683
98	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	5.663
99	Panama`PAN`Central America	5.639
100	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	5.609
101	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	5.565
102	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	5.538
103	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	5.510
104	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	5.455
105	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	5.401
106	Channel Islands`CHI`Northern Europe	5.295
107	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	5.220
108	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	5.144
109	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	5.085
110	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	5.060
111	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	4.942
112	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	4.934
113	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	4.890
114	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	4.852
115	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	4.803
116	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	4.796
117	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	4.764
118	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	4.630
119	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	4.590
120	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	4.490
121	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	4.416
122	Paraguay`PRY`South America	4.415
123	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	4.392
124	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	4.371
125	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	4.242
126	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	4.198
127	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	4.187
128	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	4.167
129	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	4.142
130	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	4.132
131	Peru`PER`South America	4.030
132	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	4.002
133	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	3.960
134	Ecuador`ECU`South America	3.917
135	Mexico`MEX`Central America	3.874
136	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	3.848
137	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	3.792
138	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	3.756
139	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	3.720
140	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	3.683
141	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	3.658
142	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	3.627
143	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	3.560
144	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	3.501
145	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	3.480
146	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	3.434
147	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	3.431
148	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	3.386
149	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	3.350
150	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	3.340
151	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	3.279
152	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	3.207
153	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	3.157
154	Honduras`HND`Central America	3.156
155	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	3.112
156	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	3.035
157	Macau`MAC`Eastern Asia	2.999
158	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	2.959
159	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	2.946
160	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	2.898
161	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	2.818
162	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	2.816
163	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	2.775
164	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	2.751
165	Bolivia`BOL`South America	2.603
166	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	2.521
167	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	2.326
168	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	2.221
169	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	2.168
170	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	2.097
171	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	1.998
172	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	1.889
173	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	1.750
174	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	1.634
175	Niger`NER`Western Africa	1.584
176	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	1.583
177	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	1.383
178	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	1.279
179	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	1.180
180	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	1.015
181	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	0.944
182	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	0.922
183	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	0.895
184	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.825
185	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.700
186	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	0.423
187	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.310

02In 2008

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

Lowest

187Qatar0.310
186Pakistan0.423
185Myanmar0.700
184Cambodia0.825
183Benin0.895

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 5.787. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032007 → 2008

Since 2007

What changed between 2007 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
186values changed, of 187 in both
88 · 98rose · fell
1unchanged

Rose most

Armenia10.394 → 17.100+6.706
Palestine18.282 → 22.913+4.631
Georgia13.280 → 17.870+4.590
Spain8.232 → 11.254+3.022
Syria8.420 → 10.940+2.520

Fell most

Bosnia and Herzegovina28.984 → 23.405−5.579
Serbia18.060 → 13.670−4.390
Albania15.966 → 13.060−2.906
Zambia10.559 → 7.930−2.629
Poland9.551 → 7.069−2.482

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 2008.
186 distinct values among 187
Values are stored exactly as published, to 3 decimals. 2 countries share 8.180. 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-2008-nations-inquiry.csv
↗
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) (2008). Unemployment Rate, 2008 [data set], describing 2008. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/unemployment-rate/2008

0635 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Unemployment Rate, 2007
187 countries
The year after ›
Unemployment Rate, 2009
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