ILO · Unemployment Benefit Coverage
Unemployment benefit coverage by country
What share of unemployed people receive an unemployment benefit?
Of the 200 countries compared in the 2024 edition, 9 countries shared the highest reading, 100.0%, and 104 countries shared the lowest reading, 0.0%. In the middle country the figure was 0.0%.
Share
Unemployment benefit coverage · the 2024 edition
Context statistic
9 countries share the highest value, 100.0% — no single country is named first.
01the 2024 edition · values only
Who leads
The three countries at the highest end of 200 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
Highest in the 2024 edition · shared
9 countries share the highest reading, 100.0%
No single country is named first: picking one from a shared value would be a choice the data does not make.
Highest on each continent
- Africa
Seychelles18.0% - Americas
Greenland95.6% - Asia
South Korea100.0% - Europe
6 countries share 100.0%
- Oceania
2 countries share 100.0%
- Every region
02Every measured country
Unemployment benefit coverage on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a higher value — the better end.
- 0.0%
- 0.3–6.8%
- 6.9–23.2%
- 23.3–56.7%
- 57.2–100.0%
- No reading in the 2024 edition
- Europe
48.8%
the middle country, of 42 measured · 49 members
6 share 100.0%
Kosovo0.0%Highest and lowest reading in Europe.
- Asia
2.1%
the middle country, of 48 measured · 52 members
South Korea100.0%19 share 0.0%
Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Africa
0.0%
the middle country, of 51 measured · 55 members
Seychelles18.0%44 share 0.0%
Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Americas
0.0%
the middle country, of 43 measured · 48 members
Greenland95.6%27 share 0.0%
Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Oceania
0.0%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 21 members
2 share 100.0%
13 share 0.0%
Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.
- Every region
22 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- Western Europe
99.5%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members
4 share 100.0%
Switzerland55.4%Highest and lowest reading in Western Europe.
- Northern Europe
84.1%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members
2 share 100.0%
Norway43.3%Highest and lowest reading in Northern Europe.
- Eastern Europe
28.4%
the middle country, of 10 measured · 10 members
Russia61.9%
Romania9.9%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Eastern Asia
21.9%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 8 members
South Korea100.0%
Macau6.8%Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Southern Europe
20.8%
the middle country, of 14 measured · 17 members
Portugal62.3%Kosovo0.0%Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.
- South America
4.4%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 12 members
Uruguay31.4%5 share 0.0%
Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- Western Asia
1.6%
the middle country, of 17 measured · 19 members
Bahrain46.6%6 share 0.0%
Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
- Caribbean
0.0%
the middle country, of 20 measured · 24 members
Barbados88.0%15 share 0.0%
Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- Central America
0.0%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 8 members
Mexico8.3%6 share 0.0%
Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- Eastern Africa
0.0%
the middle country, of 17 measured · 19 members
Seychelles18.0%14 share 0.0%
Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Melanesia
0.0%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
New Caledonia14.6%4 share 0.0%
Highest and lowest reading in Melanesia.
- Micronesia
0.0%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 7 members
5 share 0.0%
5 share 0.0%
Highest and lowest reading in Micronesia.
- Middle Africa
0.0%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members
8 share 0.0%
8 share 0.0%
Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- Northern Africa
0.0%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 6 members
Algeria13.1%3 share 0.0%
Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- South-eastern Asia
0.0%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 11 members
Thailand62.8%6 share 0.0%
Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Southern Africa
0.0%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
South Africa14.1%4 share 0.0%
Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
- Southern Asia
0.0%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Iran5.3%7 share 0.0%
Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- Western Africa
0.0%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Cabo Verde6.0%15 share 0.0%
Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
2 share 100.0%
2 share 100.0%
Highest and lowest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Central Asia
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.
Kazakhstan23.2%
Kyrgyzstan0.3%Highest and lowest reading in Central Asia.
- Northern America
4 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Bermuda, Canada, Greenland, United States.
Greenland95.6%
Bermuda0.0%Highest and lowest reading in Northern America.
- Polynesia
4 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Cook Islands, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu.
4 share 0.0%
4 share 0.0%
Highest and lowest reading in Polynesia.
03The whole field at once
The spread
200 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 0.0%; a quarter are above 22.0%, and a quarter below 0.0%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 200 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first. No rank or position is shown: too many countries share the same value for an order to mean anything. In many countries the figure is exactly zero, because there is no unemployment benefit to receive — a real reading, not missing data. That is also why no position is shown: a list in which half the countries share last place orders nothing. A high figure says nothing about how many people are out of work.
Showing 25 of 200 countries
Values for the 2024 edition.
05In this edition
Unemployment benefit coverage in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading
Reached 9 times by 9 countries — shared, so no holder is named
100.0%
Unemployed people receiving unemployment benefits (%)
Lowest reading
Reached 104 times by 104 countries — shared, so no holder is named
0.0%
Unemployed people receiving unemployment benefits (%)
06By sex
Inside the number
International Labour Organization (ILO) also publishes separate female and male readings. The gap between them, where both exist.
Of the 140 countries with both readings, the women reading is higher in 15, the men reading in 13, and they are equal in 112. The widest gaps each way:
07The measure
About unemployment benefit coverage
This is the share of unemployed people who actually receive an unemployment benefit. It is the unemployment part of the United Nations’ measure of social protection, and it answers a question the unemployment rate cannot: when people lose work, does anything replace their income?
What the number is: Unemployed people receiving unemployment benefits (%).
08Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Work & Labour and Development & Human Capital, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Work & LabourDevelopment & Human CapitalWhich statistics vote, and why
Moves with
Where unemployment benefit coverage is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Women's Empowerment IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office and UN Women · 112 countries in commonρ 0.82
- Inequality-adjusted Human Development IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 165 countries in commonρ 0.80
- Human Capital IndexWorld Bank Group · 168 countries in commonρ 0.80
Moves against
Where unemployment benefit coverage is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Gender Inequality IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 168 countries in commonρ −0.77
- Climate Vulnerability (ND-GAIN)KeyNotre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN), University of Notre Dame · 181 countries in commonρ −0.76
- Prevalence of UndernourishmentFAO · 158 countries in commonρ −0.76
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 380 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
09Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
The data, edition by edition
10Questions
Unemployment benefit coverage: questions and answers
Which country has the highest unemployment benefit coverage?
9 countries share the highest reading, 100.0%, among the 200 compared in the 2024 edition, so no single country is named.
Which country has the lowest unemployment benefit coverage?
104 countries share the lowest reading, 0.0%, among the 200 compared in the 2024 edition, so no single country is named.
How many countries does the Unemployment Benefit Coverage cover?
200 in the 2024 edition.
What is the world average unemployment benefit coverage?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 200 compared in the 2024 edition, the figure was 0.0%.
Is this International Labour Organization (ILO)’s own ranking?
No ranking is shown. International Labour Organization (ILO) publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything, so none is derived.
How often is the Unemployment Benefit Coverage published?
This site holds one edition, describing 2024.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From International Labour Organization (ILO), under CC BY 4.0. The unemployment part of SDG indicator 1.3.1, from the ILO’s World Social Protection Report, read from ILOSTAT directly. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
11Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Unemployment Benefit Coverage — International Labour Organization (ILO)
The unemployment part of SDG indicator 1.3.1, from the ILO’s World Social Protection Report, read from ILOSTAT directly.
Newest edition
Report year 2024Data year not recorded
Cite the source as: International Labour Organization. World Social Protection Report. Geneva: ILO.
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-10-03.
How this page reads the numbers
- No rank or position is shown: International Labour Organization (ILO) publishes values only, and too many countries share the same value for an ordering to mean anything.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- The file gives each country’s most recent reading, so the rows are from different years. Readings from before 2014 are listed but left out of every comparison on this page.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Unemployment benefit coverage by country: Unemployment Benefit Coverage, data from International Labour Organization (ILO). https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/unemployment-benefit-coverage