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Countries by unemployment

People without work who are looking for it, as a share of the labour force, as modelled by the International Labour Organization so countries can be compared. 178 countries, highest first. World Bank, mostly 2025

See it on the map
Map: Unemployment — World
Highest
34.2%
Eswatini
Median country
5.1%
half above, half below
Lowest
0.1%
Qatar
#Country% of labour forceYearRegion
1Eswatini34.2%2025Southern Africa
2South Africa32.4%2025Southern Africa
3Djibouti26.0%2025Eastern Africa
4Botswana24.5%2025Southern Africa
5Gabon20.2%2025Middle Africa
6Congo19.9%2025Middle Africa
7Namibia19.3%2025Southern Africa
8Somalia18.9%2025Eastern Africa
9Libya18.8%2025Northern Africa
10Saint Vincent and the Grenadines18.0%2025Caribbean
11Yemen17.3%2025Western Asia
12Jordan16.5%2025Western Asia
13Lesotho16.3%2025Southern Africa
14Iraq15.5%2025Western Asia
15Tunisia15.1%2025Northern Africa
16Haiti14.9%2025Caribbean
17Angola14.1%2025Middle Africa
=18Montenegro13.6%2025Southern Europe
=18Syria13.6%2025Western Asia
20Afghanistan13.4%2025Southern Asia
21Armenia12.9%2025Western Asia
22South Sudan12.4%2023Eastern Africa
23North Macedonia12.3%2025Southern Europe
24Georgia12.1%2025Western Asia
25Guyana12.0%2025South America
26Cabo Verde11.9%2025Western Africa
27Algeria11.6%2025Northern Africa
28Rwanda11.4%2025Eastern Africa
=29Bosnia and Herzegovina11.0%2025Southern Europe
=29Lebanon11.0%2023Western Asia
31Albania10.9%2025Southern Europe
32Nepal10.5%2025Southern Asia
33Spain10.4%2025Southern Europe
34Mauritania10.3%2025Western Africa
35Ukraine9.8%2021Eastern Europe
=36Finland9.5%2025Northern Europe
=36Saint Lucia9.5%2025Caribbean
38Zimbabwe9.3%2025Eastern Africa
39Bahamas9.2%2025Caribbean
40São Tomé and Principe9.1%2025Middle Africa
=41Chile9.0%2025South America
=41Morocco9.0%2025Northern Africa
43Belize8.9%2025Central America
44Sweden8.7%2025Northern Europe
=45Greece8.5%2025Southern Europe
=45Turkey8.5%2025Western Asia
47Panama8.4%2025Central America
=48Colombia8.3%2025South America
=48Equatorial Guinea8.3%2025Middle Africa
=48Estonia8.3%2025Northern Europe
=48Iran8.3%2025Southern Asia
52Suriname7.8%2025South America
=53France7.5%2025Western Europe
=53Sudan7.5%2022Northern Africa
=53Uruguay7.5%2025South America
=56Argentina7.1%2025South America
=56Serbia7.1%2025Southern Europe
=58Canada6.9%2025Northern America
=58Tajikistan6.9%2025Central Asia
=60Costa Rica6.8%2025Central America
=60Egypt6.8%2025Northern Africa
62Lithuania6.7%2025Northern Europe
=63Latvia6.6%2025Northern Europe
=63Mozambique6.6%2025Eastern Africa
=65Barbados6.5%2025Caribbean
=65Gambia6.5%2025Western Africa
67Italy6.4%2025Southern Europe
=68Central African Republic6.3%2025Middle Africa
=68Luxembourg6.3%2025Western Europe
70Portugal6.2%2025Southern Europe
=71Brazil6.0%2025South America
=71Eritrea6.0%2025Eastern Africa
=71Romania6.0%2025Eastern Europe
=74Belgium5.9%2025Western Europe
=74Zambia5.9%2025Eastern Africa
=76Austria5.6%2025Western Europe
=76Mauritius5.6%2025Eastern Africa
=78Azerbaijan5.5%2025Western Asia
=78Denmark5.5%2025Northern Europe
=80Kenya5.4%2025Eastern Africa
=80Pakistan5.4%2025Southern Asia
=80Slovakia5.4%2025Eastern Europe
=83Brunei5.3%2025South-Eastern Asia
=83Fiji5.3%2025Melanesia
=83Venezuela5.3%2025South America
=86Guinea5.2%2025Western Africa
=86Mongolia5.2%2025Eastern Asia
=88Dominican Republic5.1%2025Caribbean
=88Malawi5.1%2025Eastern Africa
=88New Zealand5.1%2025Australia and New Zealand
=88Peru5.1%2025South America
=88Vanuatu5.1%2025Melanesia
=93Croatia5.0%2025Southern Europe
=93Nicaragua5.0%2025Central America
=93Samoa5.0%2025Polynesia
=96Cyprus4.9%2025Western Asia
=96Honduras4.9%2025Central America
=96Switzerland4.9%2025Western Europe
=99Kazakhstan4.8%2025Central Asia
=99Paraguay4.8%2025South America
101United Kingdom4.7%2025Northern Europe
=102China4.6%2025Eastern Asia
=102Ireland4.6%2025Northern Europe
=102Norway4.6%2025Northern Europe
=102Uzbekistan4.6%2025Central Asia
=106Hungary4.5%2025Eastern Europe
=106Maldives4.5%2025Southern Asia
108DR Congo4.4%2025Middle Africa
109Turkmenistan4.3%2025Central Asia
=110India4.2%2025Southern Asia
=110United States4.2%2025Northern America
112Australia4.1%2025Australia and New Zealand
113Sri Lanka4.0%2025Southern Asia
114Netherlands3.9%2025Western Europe
=115Bangladesh3.8%2025Southern Asia
=115Comoros3.8%2025Eastern Africa
=115Malaysia3.8%2025South-Eastern Asia
118Germany3.7%2025Western Europe
=119Cameroon3.6%2025Middle Africa
=119Iceland3.6%2025Northern Europe
=121Bulgaria3.5%2025Eastern Europe
=121Burkina Faso3.5%2025Western Africa
=121Israel3.5%2025Western Asia
=121Kyrgyzstan3.5%2025Central Asia
=121North Korea3.5%2025Eastern Asia
126Belarus3.4%2025Eastern Europe
=127Ecuador3.3%2025South America
=127El Salvador3.3%2025Central America
=127Ethiopia3.3%2025Eastern Africa
=127Jamaica3.3%2025Caribbean
=127Oman3.3%2025Western Asia
=127Trinidad and Tobago3.3%2025Caribbean
=133Bhutan3.2%2025Southern Asia
=133Indonesia3.2%2025South-Eastern Asia
=133Sierra Leone3.2%2025Western Africa
=133Slovenia3.2%2025Southern Europe
137Nigeria3.1%2025Western Africa
=138Bolivia3.0%2025South America
=138Ghana3.0%2025Western Africa
=138Madagascar3.0%2025Eastern Africa
=138Myanmar3.0%2025South-Eastern Asia
=138Poland3.0%2025Eastern Europe
=138Saudi Arabia3.0%2025Western Asia
=144Liberia2.9%2025Western Africa
=144Malta2.9%2025Southern Europe
=146Czechia2.8%2025Eastern Europe
=146Mali2.8%2025Western Africa
=146Singapore2.8%2025South-Eastern Asia
=149Guinea-Bissau2.7%2025Western Africa
=149Mexico2.7%2025Central America
=149Senegal2.7%2025Western Africa
=149South Korea2.7%2025Eastern Asia
=149Uganda2.7%2025Eastern Africa
=154Guatemala2.6%2025Central America
=154Papua New Guinea2.6%2025Melanesia
156Japan2.5%2025Eastern Asia
157Côte d'Ivoire2.3%2025Western Africa
=158Kuwait2.2%2025Western Asia
=158Philippines2.2%2025South-Eastern Asia
=158United Arab Emirates2.2%2025Western Asia
161Russia2.1%2025Eastern Europe
=162Togo2.0%2025Western Africa
=162Tonga2.0%2025Polynesia
164Cuba1.7%2025Caribbean
=165Benin1.6%2025Western Africa
=165Tanzania1.6%2025Eastern Africa
=165Timor-Leste1.6%2025South-Eastern Asia
=168Moldova1.5%2025Eastern Europe
=168Vietnam1.5%2025South-Eastern Asia
170Solomon Islands1.4%2025Melanesia
171Laos1.2%2025South-Eastern Asia
=172Bahrain1.1%2025Western Asia
=172Chad1.1%2025Middle Africa
174Burundi0.9%2025Eastern Africa
175Thailand0.8%2025South-Eastern Asia
176Niger0.4%2025Western Africa
177Cambodia0.3%2025South-Eastern Asia
178Qatar0.1%2025Western Asia

No World Bank figure for 16 countries: Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Kiribati, Liechtenstein, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Monaco, Nauru, Palau, Saint Kitts and Nevis, San Marino, Seychelles, Taiwan, Vatican City.

Territories and other places

Not ranked: dependencies of the states above, places whose status is disputed, and Antarctica. Highest first.

Place% of labour forceStatus
Palestine24.4%Status disputed
French Polynesia11.7%Territory of France
US Virgin Islands11.4%Territory of United States of America
New Caledonia11.2%Territory of France
Puerto Rico6.0%Territory of United States of America
Guam5.6%Territory of United States of America
Hong Kong2.8%Territory of China
Macao2.3%Territory of China

Questions

Which country has the highest unemployment?
Eswatini has the highest unemployment: 34.2% of the labour force (2025). Next come South Africa (32.4% of the labour force) and Djibouti (26.0% of the labour force).
Which country has the lowest unemployment?
Qatar, with 0.1% of the labour force (2025).
What is the typical unemployment of a country?
The median of the 178 countries is 5.1% of the labour force: half are above it, half below. The median, not the average, because a few countries at the top would drag an average far above almost everyone.
Where do the figures come from?
People without work who are looking for it, as a share of the labour force, as modelled by the International Labour Organization so countries can be compared. Source: World Bank, mostly 2025. Only independent states are ranked; territories are listed separately.

Source: World Bank (CC BY 4.0). Figures more than 5 years older than the newest are left out rather than shown beside current ones. Countries sharing a value share a rank. All sources.