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CompareEconomy.com Comparison of world economies

Unemployment (% of total labor force)

Table of Contents

Unemployment by country

Lack of map.
A map of the world, with colours to highlight the unemployment percent of total labor force of each country. Numbers on the legend are %.

List of all countries

Flag Position Country Number
1 Eswatini 34.4
2 South Africa 33.17
3 Djibouti 25.88
4 Botswana 23.14
5 Gabon 20.06
6 Congo 19.69
7 Namibia 19.15
8 Somalia 18.86
9 Libya 18.61
10 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 18.06
11 Jordan 18
12 Yemen 17.09
13 Tunisia 16.2
14 Lesotho 16.15
15 Iraq 15.52
16 Haiti 15.06
17 Angola 14.46
18 Montenegro 14.1
19 North Macedonia 13.42
20 Armenia 13.33
21 Afghanistan 13.3
22 Syria 12.96
23 Rwanda 11.99
24 Cabo Verde 11.88
25 Tajikistan 11.64
26 Georgia 11.48
27 Algeria 11.43
28 Spain 11.39
29 Saint Lucia 10.93
30 Bosnia and Herzegovina 10.72
31 Nepal 10.71
32 Mauritania 10.37
33 Albania 10.25
34 Guyana 10.16
35 Greece 10.13
36 Colombia 9.61
37 Iran 9.19
38 Sao Tome and Principe 9.17
39 Chile 9.06
40 Morocco 8.94
41 Zimbabwe 8.55
42 Sweden 8.53
43 Bahamas 8.46
44 Turkey 8.45
45 Uruguay 8.4
46 Finland 8.26
47 Argentina 7.88
48 Costa Rica 7.85
49 Estonia 7.83
50 Equatorial Guinea 7.82
51 Brazil 7.63
52 Barbados 7.53
53 Lithuania 7.5
54 Serbia 7.39
55 France 7.37
56 Suriname 7.32
57 Egypt 7.2
58 Belize 7
59 Italy 6.78
60 Latvia 6.72
61 Panama 6.52
62 Gambia 6.5
63 Canada 6.45
64 Portugal 6.38
65 Paraguay 6.09
66 Honduras 6.06
67 Zambia 5.96
68 Luxembourg 5.94
69 Central African Republic 5.9
70 Cyprus 5.6
71 Azerbaijan 5.59
72 Denmark 5.59
73 Eritrea 5.55
74 Belgium 5.49
75 Mauritius 5.48
76 Venezuela 5.48
77 Dominican Republic 5.47
78 Pakistan 5.47
79 Austria 5.44
80 Mongolia 5.42
81 Romania 5.38
82 Croatia 5.24
83 Guinea 5.23
84 Slovakia 5.23
85 Burkina Faso 5.17
86 Brunei Darussalam 5.14
87 Vanuatu 5.06
88 Malawi 5.04
89 Sri Lanka 5
90 Jamaica 4.88
91 New Zealand 4.87
92 Peru 4.83
93 Kazakhstan 4.79
94 Ecuador 4.77
95 Bangladesh 4.68
96 Maldives 4.64
97 China 4.57
98 Nicaragua 4.57
99 Democratic Republic of the Congo 4.56
100 Samoa 4.55
101 Trinidad and Tobago 4.55
102 Uzbekistan 4.49
103 Hungary 4.43
104 Ireland 4.37
105 Fiji 4.31
106 Turkmenistan 4.3
107 India 4.2
108 Switzerland 4.11
109 United States of America (USA) 4.11
110 United Kingdom 4.11
111 Bulgaria 4.1
112 Australia 4.07
113 Norway 3.97
114 Saudi Arabia 3.9
115 Comoros 3.88
116 Malaysia 3.83
117 Netherlands 3.6
118 Mozambique 3.53
119 Cameroon 3.52
120 Germany 3.41
121 Ethiopia 3.4
122 Belarus 3.36
123 Slovenia 3.36
124 Indonesia 3.3
125 Kyrgyzstan 3.29
126 Singapore 3.18
127 Oman 3.16
128 Israel 3.15
129 Sierra Leone 3.13
130 Iceland 3.11
131 Bolivia 3.09
132 Mali 3.06
133 Myanmar 3.03
134 Ghana 3.01
135 Madagascar 3.01
136 Nigeria 2.99
137 Senegal 2.99
138 Liberia 2.88
139 Bhutan 2.86
140 North Korea 2.86
141 El Salvador 2.84
142 Papua New Guinea 2.74
143 Mexico 2.71
144 Malta 2.7
145 Guinea-Bissau 2.62
146 South Korea 2.6
147 Tanzania 2.58
148 Japan 2.56
149 Russia 2.53
150 Czechia 2.51
151 Poland 2.47
152 Ivory Coast 2.29
153 Guatemala 2.22
154 Tonga 2.19
155 Philippines 2.15
156 Kuwait 2.14
157 United Arab Emirates 2.13
158 Togo 1.94
159 Benin 1.72
160 Timor-Leste 1.6
161 Cuba 1.53
162 Solomon Islands 1.47
163 Moldova 1.43
164 Vietnam 1.43
165 Laos 1.22
166 Bahrain 1.1
167 Chad 1.09
168 Burundi 0.9
169 Thailand 0.69
170 Niger 0.36
171 Cambodia 0.27
172 Qatar 0.13

Bar chart

World unemployment by year

World unemployment by year.

Table

Year Number
1991 5.13
1992 5.29
1993 5.56
1994 5.8
1995 5.93
1996 5.99
1997 6.02
1998 6.17
1999 6.29
2000 6.12
2001 6.2
2002 6.43
2003 6.5
2004 6.34
2005 6.23
2006 5.98
2007 5.78
2008 5.83
2009 6.42
2010 6.29
2011 6.16
2012 6.16
2013 6.11
2014 5.97
2015 6.01
2016 5.98
2017 5.91
2018 5.77
2019 5.6
2020 6.61
2021 6.06
2022 5.26
2023 4.92
2024 4.89

Countries with the highest unemployment

Top 10 countries by unemployment

How many people are without a job? Everything to know about unemployment

The possibility to earn money and to associate with others is of utmost importance for human beings. That is why it is quite crucial to have a job, especially the one that suits us and makes us happy. We probably realize the unemployment in our own country, but what about the neighbouring nations and great powers?

Let’s take a look at the unemployment rates at the wealthiest nations in the world

There are five countries that are at the top of almost all rankings in terms of wealthiness, and these are China, the USA, India, Japan, and Germany. Interestingly, out of them the biggest unemployment rate, when compared to the total labor force, can be noticed in India (5.4%). It is a rather moderate rate, which shouldn’t pose any large troubles.

Slightly smaller unemployment rates are in China (4.4%), and in the USA. (3.9%). The Germans are known as hard-working people, and the unemployment rate seems to confirm this with 3%. However, the lowest unemployment rate out of the wealthiest countries is in Japan with only 2.3%.

The biggest unemployment is in… Africa

South Africa, to be exact. There, we can notice an unemployment rate around 28.5%. It means that out of the total labor force, more than a quarter of society is not officially working. The second place goes to a region of the West Bank and Gaza (26.1%). Let’s also remember about the third place of the infamous rating, which is Lesotho, a small country in Africa. 

We should remember that there are numerous countries that struggle with high unemployment rates. Some of the examples are Spain and Turkey (both 13%). However, the most alarming is Greece with an enormous 15.5% of unemployed people. All the data was gathered at the end of 2019.

There are no unemployed people in Qatar!

The smallest unemployment rate can be found in this country located in Western Asia.There are only 0.1% of the unemployed. There are several other nations with incredibly small unemployment rates such as Solomon Islands and, surprisingly, Niger (both 0.5%)