ILO · Unemployment Rate
Unemployment rate by country
What share of the labour force is out of work and looking for a job?
Of the 182 countries compared in 2025, Qatar had the lowest reading, 0.130%, and Eswatini had the highest reading, 34.202%. In the middle country the figure was 5.084%. Among the 182 countries measured in every edition since 1991, the middle one moved from 5.672% to 5.084%.
Share
Part ofWork & Labour
Unemployment rate · 2025
Key statistic · Work & Labour
Lowest of 182Qatar
0.130%012025 · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the lowest end of 182 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: Haakon S. Krohn derivative work: JamesA · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
2Photo: Chris · CC BY-SA 2.0, greyscale
3Photo: File: Jacques Taberlet derivative work: Lkcl it · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale
Highest in 2025
Eswatini34.202%
South Africa32.391%
Djibouti26.015%
Where a country sits says how it compares with the others measured, and nothing about why.
02Every measured country
Unemployment rate 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 lower value — the better end.
- 9.452–34.202%
- 5.970–9.293%
- 4.434–5.918%
- 2.896–4.267%
- 0.130–2.884%
- No reading in 2025 (5 measured in an earlier edition)
- Asia
3.771%
the middle country, of 48 measured · 52 members
Qatar0.130%
Yemen17.322%Lowest and highest reading in Asia.
- Oceania
5.073%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 21 members
Solomon Islands1.431%
French Polynesia11.662%Lowest and highest reading in Oceania.
- Europe
5.582%
the middle country, of 39 measured · 49 members
Moldova1.505%
Montenegro13.572%Lowest and highest reading in Europe.
- Africa
5.918%
the middle country, of 51 measured · 55 members
Niger0.394%Eswatini34.202%Lowest and highest reading in Africa.
- Americas
5.991%
the middle country, of 33 measured · 48 members
Cuba1.746%
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines18.003%Lowest and highest reading in Americas.
- Every region
22 sub-regions, lowest middle country first
- South-eastern Asia
2.235%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 11 members
Cambodia0.263%
Brunei5.277%Lowest and highest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- Eastern Asia
2.799%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 8 members
Macau2.347%
Mongolia5.233%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Western Africa
2.931%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 16 members
Niger0.394%
Cabo Verde11.939%Lowest and highest reading in Western Africa.
- Eastern Europe
3.380%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 10 members
Moldova1.505%
Romania5.992%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Southern Asia
4.514%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Bhutan3.227%
Afghanistan13.351%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Asia.
- Central Asia
4.622%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Kyrgyzstan3.526%
Tajikistan6.931%Lowest and highest reading in Central Asia.
- Central America
4.980%
the middle country, of 8 measured · 8 members
Guatemala2.604%
Belize8.856%Lowest and highest reading in Central America.
- Melanesia
5.073%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Solomon Islands1.431%
New Caledonia11.174%Lowest and highest reading in Melanesia.
- Western Asia
5.191%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 19 members
Qatar0.130%Yemen17.322%Lowest and highest reading in Western Asia.
- Eastern Africa
5.542%
the middle country, of 16 measured · 19 members
Burundi0.922%Djibouti26.015%Lowest and highest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Western Europe
5.582%
the middle country, of 7 measured · 9 members
Germany3.711%
France7.542%Lowest and highest reading in Western Europe.
- Northern Europe
6.169%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 13 members
Iceland3.625%
Finland9.461%Lowest and highest reading in Northern Europe.
- Caribbean
6.524%
the middle country, of 11 measured · 24 members
Cuba1.746%Saint Vincent and the Grenadines18.003%Lowest and highest reading in Caribbean.
- South America
6.557%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 12 members
Bolivia2.967%
Guyana11.962%Lowest and highest reading in South America.
- Southern Europe
7.832%
the middle country, of 12 measured · 17 members
Malta2.896%Montenegro13.572%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Europe.
- Middle Africa
8.337%
the middle country, of 9 measured · 9 members
Chad1.057%
Gabon20.154%Lowest and highest reading in Middle Africa.
- Northern Africa
11.633%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 6 members
Egypt6.781%
Libya18.758%Lowest and highest reading in Northern Africa.
- Southern Africa
24.477%
the middle country, of 5 measured · 5 members
Lesotho16.315%Eswatini34.202%Lowest and highest reading in Southern Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
2 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: Australia, New Zealand.
Australia4.090%
New Zealand5.076%Lowest and highest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Micronesia
1 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: Guam.
Guam5.569%Lowest and highest reading in Micronesia.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
United States4.198%
Canada6.907%Lowest and highest reading in Northern America.
- Polynesia
3 of 7 measured — too few for a middle: French Polynesia, Samoa, Tonga.
Tonga2.008%French Polynesia11.662%Lowest and highest reading in Polynesia.
03The whole field at once
The spread
182 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 5.084%; a quarter are above 8.480%, and a quarter below 3.188%. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
04All 187 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first — position 1 is the highest value, the way ILO’s own tables read. “=” marks a position shared with another country. International Labour Organization (ILO) ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. These are modelled estimates, not each country’s own headline figure, so the number here will not always match what a national statistics office publishes.
Showing 25 of 187 countries
Values for 2025. The change column compares 2025 with 2024 only; the sparkline covers the recent editions.
051991–2025 · 35 reference years
Over time
Each point is one reference year from 1991.
- the middle country
- the middle half of countries
- the middle of the 182 countries measured every time
- each continent’s middle country
The same, year by year
| Year | Countries | Middle country | Middle half | Measured every time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 182 | 5.084% | 3.188% – 8.480% | 5.084% |
| 2024 | 182 | 5.145% | 3.264% – 8.438% | 5.145% |
| 2023 | 184 | 5.211% | 3.164% – 8.428% | 5.181% |
| 2022 | 186 | 5.337% | 3.485% – 9.195% | 5.235% |
| 2021 | 187 | 6.040% | 4.115% – 10.783% | 5.908% |
| 2020 | 187 | 6.375% | 4.227% – 11.325% | 6.153% |
| 2019 | 187 | 5.364% | 3.458% – 10.082% | 5.081% |
| 2018 | 187 | 5.353% | 3.569% – 9.928% | 5.206% |
| 2017 | 187 | 5.592% | 3.673% – 10.730% | 5.525% |
| 2016 | 187 | 5.896% | 3.926% – 10.767% | 5.783% |
| 2015 | 187 | 6.412% | 3.885% – 10.754% | 6.143% |
| 2014 | 187 | 6.576% | 3.679% – 11.426% | 6.283% |
| 2013 | 187 | 6.709% | 3.690% – 11.769% | 6.403% |
| 2012 | 187 | 6.790% | 3.754% – 11.850% | 6.662% |
| 2011 | 187 | 6.902% | 3.798% – 11.299% | 6.592% |
| 2010 | 187 | 7.037% | 4.061% – 11.106% | 6.992% |
| 2009 | 187 | 6.674% | 3.968% – 10.724% | 6.618% |
| 2008 | 187 | 5.787% | 3.670% – 9.400% | 5.716% |
| 2007 | 187 | 6.002% | 3.635% – 9.452% | 5.727% |
| 2006 | 187 | 6.500% | 3.786% – 10.234% | 6.262% |
| 2005 | 187 | 7.092% | 4.075% – 10.787% | 6.962% |
| 2004 | 187 | 6.800% | 4.286% – 10.779% | 6.717% |
| 2003 | 187 | 6.950% | 4.152% – 11.520% | 6.857% |
| 2002 | 187 | 6.910% | 3.993% – 11.411% | 6.812% |
| 2001 | 187 | 6.960% | 3.780% – 11.695% | 6.694% |
| 2000 | 187 | 6.918% | 3.918% – 11.849% | 6.791% |
| 1999 | 187 | 7.300% | 3.938% – 12.214% | 7.102% |
| 1998 | 187 | 7.332% | 3.851% – 12.085% | 7.184% |
| 1997 | 187 | 7.136% | 3.605% – 11.532% | 7.086% |
| 1996 | 187 | 7.414% | 3.607% – 11.731% | 7.260% |
| 1995 | 187 | 7.160% | 3.425% – 11.333% | 7.154% |
| 1994 | 187 | 7.300% | 3.507% – 11.647% | 7.197% |
| 1993 | 187 | 6.374% | 3.263% – 11.497% | 6.327% |
| 1992 | 187 | 6.317% | 3.029% – 10.854% | 6.198% |
| 1991 | 187 | 5.697% | 2.758% – 10.540% | 5.672% |
062024 → 2025
Who rose and fell
The biggest changes in value between the two newest editions — reference years recalculated in one report, not two separate publications. Places are shown second, because they also move when other countries do.
Improved most
before → after182 countries were measured in both 2024 and 2025.
07Across every edition
Unemployment rate in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading on record
38.800%
Unemployment (% of labour force)
Lowest reading on record
0.100%
Unemployment (% of labour force)
Biggest improvement between editions
−7.300
24.400% → 17.100%
Biggest decline between editions
+19.703
10.304% → 30.007%
Most improved since first measured
−16.546
30.118% → 13.572%
At the top most often
17 of 35
editions, alone at the first-listed end
08The measure
About unemployment rate
The unemployment rate is the share of a country’s labour force without work but available for it and looking. The ILO models a harmonised figure for 187 countries so they can sit in one table, which is the only way a cross-country comparison of this measure can be honest.
What the number is: Unemployment (% of labour force).
What it does not measure
It leaves out people who have stopped looking for work and says nothing about the quality of the jobs people do have; a low rate can sit beside widespread informal or poorly paid work.
09Where 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
A key statistic for Work & Labour
“The share of people looking for work who cannot find it.”
- Edition used
- 2025 (data 2025)
- Countries
- 182
- Licence
- CC BY 4.0
Moves with
Where unemployment rate is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Youth Unemployment RateILO · 182 countries in commonρ 0.91
Moves against
Where unemployment rate is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Employment-to-Population RatioKeyILO · 182 countries in commonρ −0.64
- Labour Force Participation RateILO · 182 countries in commonρ −0.45
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 378 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
10Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
11Questions
Unemployment rate: questions and answers
Which country has the lowest unemployment rate?
Qatar, at 0.130%, among the 182 countries compared in 2025.
Which country has the highest unemployment rate?
Eswatini, at 34.202%, among the 182 countries compared in 2025.
How many countries does the Unemployment Rate cover?
182 in 2025, and 187 at least once across all editions. The number measured varies from 182 to 187 between editions.
What is the world average unemployment rate?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 182 compared in 2025, the figure was 5.084%.
Is this International Labour Organization (ILO)’s own ranking?
No. International Labour Organization (ILO) publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Unemployment Rate published?
This site holds 35 reference years, 1991–2025, all recalculated in International Labour Organization (ILO)’s 2026 report on one method — not 35 separate publications.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From International Labour Organization (ILO), under CC BY 4.0. Produced by the ILO and pulled through the World Bank’s indicator API (SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS). Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
12Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Unemployment Rate — International Labour Organization (ILO)
Produced by the ILO and pulled through the World Bank’s indicator API (SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS).
Newest edition
Report year 2025Data year 2025
Cite the source as: International Labour Organization. ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST). Geneva: ILOSTAT.
Licence: CC BY 4.0, checked 2026-09-05.
How this page reads the numbers
- International Labour Organization (ILO) ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- 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.
- 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.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Qatar — Haakon S. Krohn derivative work: JamesA, CC BY-SA 3.0
- Cambodia — Chris, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Niger — File: Jacques Taberlet derivative work: Lkcl it, CC BY-SA 3.0
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Unemployment rate by country: Unemployment Rate, data from International Labour Organization (ILO). https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/unemployment-rate