Data for 2018

Unemployment Rate, 2018

Name: Unemployment Rate, 2018
Creator: International Labour Organization (ILO)
License: https://www.ilo.org/rights-and-permissions

2018, as ILO’s 2026 release gives it · stored as published, never rewritten

Unemployment Rate, 2018 covers 187 countries. South Africa is highest, at 26.906; Qatar is lowest, at 0.110. The middle country reads 5.353. Against 2017, 186 values changed (66 up, 120 down), the same countries are covered.

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Unemployment Rate · Data for 2018

HighestSouth Africa

26.906

LowestQatar

0.110

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

187countries
1measure
2018the year it describes
187distinct 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, 2018, 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, 2018: every country, as published by International Labour Organization (ILO).
derived
1	South Africa`ZAF`Southern Africa	26.906
2	Eswatini`SWZ`Southern Africa	26.471
3	Palestine`PSE`Western Asia	26.256
4	Djibouti`DJI`Eastern Africa	26.180
5	North Macedonia`MKD`Southern Europe	21.208
6	Republic of the Congo`COG`Middle Africa	20.840
7	Gabon`GAB`Middle Africa	20.459
8	Namibia`NAM`Southern Africa	19.877
9	Botswana`BWA`Southern Africa	19.665
10	Saint Lucia`LCA`Caribbean	19.329
11	Greece`GRC`Southern Europe	19.179
12	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines`VCT`Caribbean	19.005
13	Armenia`ARM`Western Asia	18.966
14	Libya`LBY`Northern Africa	18.865
15	Somalia`SOM`Eastern Africa	18.700
16	Bosnia and Herzegovina`BIH`Southern Europe	18.400
17	Jordan`JOR`Western Asia	18.257
18	Yemen`YEM`Western Asia	17.593
19	Lesotho`LSO`Southern Africa	16.614
20	Angola`AGO`Middle Africa	16.602
21	Tunisia`TUN`Northern Africa	15.459
22	Spain`ESP`Southern Europe	15.255
23	Montenegro`MNE`Southern Europe	15.190
24	Haiti`HTI`Caribbean	13.934
25	Guyana`GUY`South America	13.627
26	Syria`SYR`Western Asia	13.505
27	Iraq`IRQ`Western Asia	13.458
28	South Sudan`SSD`Eastern Africa	12.853
29	Serbia`SRB`Southern Europe	12.733
30	Georgia`GEO`Western Asia	12.667
31	Sudan`SDN`Northern Africa	12.347
32	Brazil`BRA`South America	12.329
33	Albania`ALB`Southern Europe	12.304
34	Iran`IRN`Southern Asia	12.195
35	Cabo Verde`CPV`Western Africa	12.170
36	Algeria`DZA`Northern Africa	12.112
37	United States Virgin Islands`VIR`Caribbean	11.703
38	New Caledonia`NCL`Melanesia	11.702
39	French Polynesia`PYF`Polynesia	11.599
40	Afghanistan`AFG`Southern Asia	11.192
41	Türkiye`TUR`Western Asia	10.956
42	Rwanda`RWA`Eastern Africa	10.759
43	Lebanon`LBN`Western Asia	10.755
44	Nepal`NPL`Southern Asia	10.593
45	Italy`ITA`Southern Europe	10.538
46	Mauritania`MRT`Western Africa	10.411
47	Bahamas`BHS`Caribbean	10.000
48	Egypt`EGY`Northern Africa	9.855
49	Colombia`COL`South America	9.360
50	Belize`BLZ`Central America	9.346
51	Morocco`MAR`Northern Africa	9.272
52	Argentina`ARG`South America	9.220
53	Puerto Rico`PRI`Caribbean	9.200
54	France`FRA`Western Europe	9.018
55	Costa Rica`CRI`Central America	9.010
56	Ukraine`UKR`Eastern Europe	8.799
57	São Tomé and Príncipe`STP`Middle Africa	8.712
58	Brunei`BRN`South-eastern Asia	8.700
59	Samoa`WSM`Polynesia	8.649
60	Cyprus`CYP`Western Asia	8.504
61	Uruguay`URY`South America	8.336
62	Croatia`HRV`Southern Europe	8.322
63	Barbados`BRB`Caribbean	8.321
64	Equatorial Guinea`GNQ`Middle Africa	7.818
65	Suriname`SUR`South America	7.817
66	India`IND`Southern Asia	7.652
67	Chile`CHL`South America	7.623
68	Latvia`LVA`Northern Europe	7.412
69	Finland`FIN`Northern Europe	7.361
70	Tajikistan`TJK`Central Asia	7.028
71	Portugal`PRT`Southern Europe	6.966
72	Zimbabwe`ZWE`Eastern Africa	6.788
73	Slovakia`SVK`Eastern Europe	6.544
74	Mauritius`MUS`Eastern Africa	6.426
75	Sweden`SWE`Northern Europe	6.365
76	Channel Islands`CHI`Northern Europe	6.344
77	Paraguay`PRY`South America	6.217
78	Lithuania`LTU`Northern Europe	6.147
79	Saudi Arabia`SAU`Western Asia	6.029
80	Belgium`BEL`Western Europe	5.941
81	Dominican Republic`DOM`Caribbean	5.861
82	Canada`CAN`Northern America	5.837
83	Central African Republic`CAF`Middle Africa	5.825
84	Eritrea`ERI`Eastern Africa	5.756
85	Ireland`IRL`Northern Europe	5.741
86	Honduras`HND`Central America	5.648
87	Luxembourg`LUX`Western Europe	5.589
88	Jamaica`JAM`Caribbean	5.470
89	Venezuela`VEN`South America	5.468
90	Guam`GUM`Micronesia	5.450
91	Estonia`EST`Northern Europe	5.412
92	Uzbekistan`UZB`Central Asia	5.392
93	Mongolia`MNG`Eastern Asia	5.377
94	Vanuatu`VUT`Melanesia	5.353
95	Australia`AUS`Australia and New Zealand	5.345
96	Bulgaria`BGR`Eastern Europe	5.211
97	Nicaragua`NIC`Central America	5.200
98	Panama`PAN`Central America	5.161
99	Denmark`DNK`Northern Europe	5.131
100	Slovenia`SVN`Southern Europe	5.108
101	Nigeria`NGA`Western Africa	5.069
102	Zambia`ZMB`Eastern Africa	5.032
103	Malawi`MWI`Eastern Africa	5.021
104	Maldives`MDV`Southern Asia	4.962
105	Austria`AUT`Western Europe	4.933
106	Azerbaijan`AZE`Western Asia	4.900
107	Russia`RUS`Eastern Europe	4.871
108	Kazakhstan`KAZ`Central Asia	4.850
109	Guinea`GIN`Western Africa	4.835
110	Belarus`BLR`Eastern Europe	4.763
111	Switzerland`CHE`Western Europe	4.713
112	Burkina Faso`BFA`Western Africa	4.695
113	DR Congo`COD`Middle Africa	4.632
114	Kyrgyzstan`KGZ`Central Asia	4.559
115	Fiji`FJI`Melanesia	4.523
116	Bangladesh`BGD`Southern Asia	4.439
117	Indonesia`IDN`South-eastern Asia	4.387
118	New Zealand`NZL`Australia and New Zealand	4.335
119	Sri Lanka`LKA`Southern Asia	4.318
120	China`CHN`Eastern Asia	4.310
121	Kenya`KEN`Eastern Africa	4.284
122	Mozambique`MOZ`Eastern Africa	4.210
123	Romania`ROU`Eastern Europe	4.187
124	United Kingdom`GBR`Northern Europe	4.145
125	Pakistan`PAK`Southern Asia	4.083
126	Gambia`GMB`Western Africa	4.055
127	Turkmenistan`TKM`Central Asia	4.036
128	El Salvador`SLV`Central America	4.006
129	Comoros`COM`Eastern Africa	3.975
130	Malta`MLT`Southern Europe	3.956
131	Israel`ISR`Western Asia	3.917
132	United States`USA`Northern America	3.896
133	Poland`POL`Eastern Europe	3.835
134	Netherlands`NLD`Western Europe	3.832
135	South Korea`KOR`Eastern Asia	3.824
136	Norway`NOR`Northern Europe	3.801
137	Timor-Leste`TLS`South-eastern Asia	3.765
138	Hungary`HUN`Eastern Europe	3.667
139	Singapore`SGP`South-eastern Asia	3.613
140	Cameroon`CMR`Middle Africa	3.608
141	Ecuador`ECU`South America	3.530
142	Bolivia`BOL`South America	3.519
143	Trinidad and Tobago`TTO`Caribbean	3.497
144	Peru`PER`South America	3.492
145	Senegal`SEN`Western Africa	3.453
146	North Korea`PRK`Eastern Asia	3.409
147	Germany`DEU`Western Europe	3.384
148	Bhutan`BTN`Southern Asia	3.350
149	Malaysia`MYS`South-eastern Asia	3.300
150	Mexico`MEX`Central America	3.275
151	Uganda`UGA`Eastern Africa	3.249
152	Ghana`GHA`Western Africa	3.204
153	Sierra Leone`SLE`Western Africa	3.192
154	Guinea-Bissau`GNB`Western Africa	3.127
155	Liberia`LBR`Western Africa	3.058
156	Togo`TGO`Western Africa	2.900
157	Laos`LAO`South-eastern Asia	2.897
158	Côte d’Ivoire`CIV`Western Africa	2.852
159	Ethiopia`ETH`Eastern Africa	2.811
160	Hong Kong`HKG`Eastern Asia	2.805
161	Iceland`ISL`Northern Europe	2.704
162	Papua New Guinea`PNG`Melanesia	2.650
163	Japan`JPN`Eastern Asia	2.467
164	Philippines`PHL`South-eastern Asia	2.338
165	Madagascar`MDG`Eastern Africa	2.303
166	Guatemala`GTM`Central America	2.283
167	Tonga`TON`Polynesia	2.248
168	Czechia`CZE`Eastern Europe	2.246
169	United Arab Emirates`ARE`Western Asia	2.236
170	Kuwait`KWT`Western Asia	2.202
171	Macau`MAC`Eastern Asia	1.803
172	Oman`OMN`Western Asia	1.800
173	Tanzania`TZA`Eastern Africa	1.792
174	Cuba`CUB`Caribbean	1.700
175	Mali`MLI`Western Africa	1.620
176	Benin`BEN`Western Africa	1.426
177	Moldova`MDA`Eastern Europe	1.239
178	Bahrain`BHR`Western Asia	1.188
179	Vietnam`VNM`South-eastern Asia	1.161
180	Burundi`BDI`Eastern Africa	1.147
181	Chad`TCD`Middle Africa	1.135
182	Myanmar`MMR`South-eastern Asia	0.767
183	Thailand`THA`South-eastern Asia	0.765
184	Solomon Islands`SLB`Melanesia	0.722
185	Niger`NER`Western Africa	0.536
186	Cambodia`KHM`South-eastern Asia	0.129
187	Qatar`QAT`Western Asia	0.110

02In 2018

At either end

The 5 countries at each end of the headline.

Highest

1South Africa26.906
2Eswatini26.471
3Palestine26.256
4Djibouti26.180
5North Macedonia21.208

Lowest

187Qatar0.110
186Cambodia0.129
185Niger0.536
184Solomon Islands0.722
183Thailand0.765

A higher value is the worse result. The middle country reads 5.353. “Shared” marks a value another country also holds.

032017 → 2018

Since 2017

What changed between 2017 and this one: who joined or left, and how far the headline moved.

+0 / −0countries joined / left
186values changed, of 187 in both
66 · 120rose · fell
1unchanged

Rose most

Belize6.596 → 9.346+2.750
Eswatini24.543 → 26.471+1.928
Nicaragua3.300 → 5.200+1.900
Costa Rica7.729 → 9.010+1.281
Armenia17.704 → 18.966+1.262

Fell most

Croatia11.078 → 8.322−2.756
Cyprus11.155 → 8.504−2.651
Greece21.413 → 19.179−2.234
Bosnia and Herzegovina20.527 → 18.400−2.127
Spain17.224 → 15.255−1.969

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 2018.
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-2018-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) (2018). Unemployment Rate, 2018 [data set], describing 2018. As held by Nations Inquiry, https://nationsinquiry.com/datasets/unemployment-rate/2018

0635 held

Other years

‹ The year before
Unemployment Rate, 2017
187 countries
The year after ›
Unemployment Rate, 2019
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