List of countries by unemployment rate
Encyclopedia
This is a list of unemployment
rates for various countries. Unless indicated otherwise, statistics are based on The World Factbook
. Several non-sovereign entities are also included in this list. Note that different states, NGOs, and agencies estimate unemployment rates using different definitions and methodologies. Given the dramatic differences in cultural attitudes towards the workforce and working conditions that exist even between Western countries, a definition that is both descriptive and objective probably does not exist. Questions like how is a part-time job counted, how long until someone is out of the workforce, and the status of subsistence living have not been agreed upon. In short, these figures are not directly comparable.
, Eurostat
, and the statistical division of the OECD.
}||40.0||2010
|-
|
Kuwait||1.5||2008 (March)
|-
|
Kyrgyzstan||8.2||2008
|-
|
Laos||2.5||2009
|-
|
Latvia||16.2||2011 (March)
|-
|
Lebanon||10.0||2009 (July)
|-
|
Lesotho||22.7||2008
|-
|
Liberia||3.6||2010
|-
|
Libya||13.0||2005 (May)
|-
|
Liechtenstein||1.5||2007 (December)
|-
|
Lithuania||14.8||2011 (Q3)
|-
|
Luxembourg||4.5||2011 (May)
|-
|
Macau (China
)||3.0||2010 (April)
|-
|
Republic of Macedonia||32.0||2010
|-
|
Malaysia||3.2||2010 (April)
|-
|
Mali||30.0||2004
|-
|
Malta||6.2||2011 (May)
|-
|
Marshall Islands||30.9||1999
|-
|
Mauritania||30.0||2008
|-
|
Mauritius||8.4||2010 (Q1)
|-
|
Mayotte (France
)||25.4||2005
|-
|
Mexico||5.5||2010 (April)
|-
|
Federated States of Micronesia||22.0||2000
|-
|
Moldova||9.1||2010 (Q1)
|-
|
Monaco||0.0||2011
|-
|
Mongolia||12.2||2010 (Q1)
|-
|
Kingdom of Montenegro||20.3||2009 (Q4)
|-
|
Montserrat (United Kingdom
)||6.0||1998
|-
|
Morocco||10.0||2010 (Q1)
|-
|
Mozambique||60.0||2009
|-
|
Namibia||51.2||2008
|-
|
Nauru||90.0||2004
|-
|
Nepal||46.0||2008
|-
|
Netherlands||4.2||2011 (May)
|-
|
Netherlands Antilles (Netherlands
)||10.0||2008
|-
||
New Caledonia (France
)||17.1||2004
|-
|
New Zealand||6.6||2011 (March)
|-
|
Nicaragua||5.9||2009
|-
|
Nigeria||4.9%||2009 (March)
|-
|
Norway||3.4||2011 (April)
|-
|
Niue (New Zealand
)||10.7||2006
|-
|
Pakistan||15.4||2010
|-
|
Palau||4.2||2005
|-
|
Panama||7.1||2009
|-
|
Papua New Guinea||1.8||2004
|-
|
Paraguay||7.9||2009
|-
|
Peru||7.7||2010 (May)
|-
|
Philippines||7.2||2011 (April)
|-
|
Poland||9.2||2011 (May))
|-
|
Portugal||12.4||2011 (May)
|-
|
Puerto Rico (United States
)||16||2011 (June)
|-
|
Qatar||0.5||2009
|-
|
Kingdom of Romania||7.0||2011 (March)
|-
|
Russia||7.6||2011 (January)
|-
|
Saint Helena (United Kingdom
)||14.0||1998
|-
|
Saint Kitts and Nevis||4.5||1997
|-
|
Saint Lucia||15.7||2006
|-
|
Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (France
)||10.3||1999
|-
|
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines||18.0||2009 (June)
|-
|
San Marino||3.1||2008
|-
|
Saudi Arabia||10.8 (males only)||2010
|-
|
Senegal||48.0; 30% among adults aged 24 and under||2007
|-
|
Serbia||27+||2011 (October)
|-
|
Singapore||1.9||2011 (March)
|-
|
Slovakia||13.3||2011 (May)
|-
|
Slovenia||8.3||2011 (May)
|-
|
South Africa||25.0||2011 (Q3)
|-
|
South Korea||3.7||2010 (April)
|-
|
Spain||21.5||2011 (October)
|-
|
Sri Lanka||5.9||2009 (Q3)
|-
|
Sudan||18.7||2002
|-
|
Suriname||9.5||2004
|-
|
Swaziland||40.6||2007
|-
|
Sweden||7.7||2011 (May)
|-
|
Switzerland||2.9||2010 (June)
|-
|
Syria||9.2||2009
|-
|
Republic of China (Taiwan)||5.14||2010 (May)
|-
|
Tajikistan||60.0||2008 (August)
|-
|
Thailand||1.2||2009 (September)
|-
|
The Bahamas||12.6||2009 (September)
|-
|
Tonga||1.1||2006
|-
|
Trinidad and Tobago||5.8||2009 (Q3)
|-
|
Tunisia||13.3||2009
|-
|
Turkey||9.1 ||2011 (September)
|-
|
Turkmenistan||70.0||2008 (November)
|-
|
Turks and Caicos Islands||5.4||2007
|-
|
Ukraine||9.2||2009 (December)
|-
|
United Arab Emirates||12.7||2008
|-
|
United Kingdom||8.3||2011 (August)
|-
|
United States||9.0||2011 (October)
|-
|
Uruguay||6.1||2011 (January)
|-
|
Uzbekistan||8.0||2008 (December)
|-
|
Vanuatu||78.21||1999
|-
|
Venezuela||8.3||2011 (September)
|-
|
Vietnam||2.9||2009 (April)
|-
|
United States Virgin Islands (United States
)||7.9||2010 (April)
|-
|
Wallis and Futuna (France
)||12.2||2008
|-
|
West Bank||17.2||2010
|-
|
Yemen||35.0||2009 (June)
|-
|
Zambia||16.0||2005
|-
|
Zimbabwe||97.0||2009
|}
Unemployment
Unemployment , as defined by the International Labour Organization, occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively sought work within the past four weeks...
rates for various countries. Unless indicated otherwise, statistics are based on The World Factbook
The World Factbook
The World Factbook is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official paper copy version is available from the National Technical Information Service and the Government Printing Office...
. Several non-sovereign entities are also included in this list. Note that different states, NGOs, and agencies estimate unemployment rates using different definitions and methodologies. Given the dramatic differences in cultural attitudes towards the workforce and working conditions that exist even between Western countries, a definition that is both descriptive and objective probably does not exist. Questions like how is a part-time job counted, how long until someone is out of the workforce, and the status of subsistence living have not been agreed upon. In short, these figures are not directly comparable.
Comparable unemployment rates
Because international comparisons of unemployment rates can be misleading several organizations adjust unemployment rates to a common concept to allow accurate international comparisons. These comparisons generally pertain to developed countries and are prepared by the Division of International Labor ComparisonsDivision of international labor comparisons
The International Labor Comparisons Program of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics adjusts economic statistics to a common conceptual framework in order to make data comparable across countries...
, Eurostat
Eurostat
Eurostat is a Directorate-General of the European Commission located in Luxembourg. Its main responsibilities are to provide the European Union with statistical information at European level and to promote the integration of statistical methods across the Member States of the European Union,...
, and the statistical division of the OECD.
Unemployment rate by country
| Country / Region | Unemployment rate (%) | Source / date of information |
|---|---|---|
 Afghanistan |
35.0 | 2008 |
 Albania |
13.49 | 2010 (Q4) |
 Algeria |
10.0 | 2010 (September) |
 American Samoa (United StatesUnited States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... ) |
23.8 | 2010 |
 Andorra |
2.9 | 2009 |
 Anguilla (United KingdomUnited Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... ) |
7.8 | 2002 (July) |
 Antigua and Barbuda |
11.0 | 2001 |
 Argentina |
7.3 | 2010 (Q4) |
 Armenia |
7.0 | 2010 (December) |
 Aruba (NetherlandsNetherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders... ) |
5.7 | 2007 |
 Australia |
5.2 | 2011 (September) |
 Austria |
4.3 | 2011 (May) |
 Azerbaijan |
6.0 | 2009 |
 Bahrain |
15 | 2005 |
 Bangladesh |
5.0 | 2009 |
 Barbados |
9.4 | 2010 (Q3) |
 Belarus |
0.7 | 2010 |
 Belgium |
7.3 | 2011 (May) |
 Belize |
12.6 | 2009 (September) |
 Bermuda |
4.5 | 2009 (May) |
 Bhutan |
4.0 | 2009 |
 Bolivia |
6.0 | 2010 (Q2) |
 Bosnia and Herzegovina |
29.2 | 2010 (August) |
 Botswana |
7.5 | 2007 |
 Brazil |
5.8 | 2011 (November) |
 British Virgin Islands (United KingdomUnited Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... ) |
3.1 | 2007 |
 Brunei |
3.7 | 2008 |
 Kingdom of Bulgaria |
11.2 | 2011 (May) |
 Myanmar |
4.9 | 2009 |
 Cambodia |
1.68 | 2008 |
 Cameroon |
4.4 (underemployment - 75.8) 30.0(CIA estimate) | 2005 |
 Canada |
7.2 | 2011 (July) |
 Cape Verde |
13.1 | 2010 (May) |
 Cayman Islands (United KingdomUnited Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... ) |
4.0 (5.5 - 2010 estimate) | 2008 |
 Central African Republic |
8.0 | 2001 |
 Chile |
7.1 | 2010 (December) |
 People's Republic of China |
4.1 | 2010 (September) |
 Cocos (Keeling) Islands (AustraliaAustralia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... ) |
60.0 | 2000 |
 Colombia |
9.7 | 2011 (September) |
 Comoros |
20.0 | 1996 |
 Cook Islands (New ZealandNew Zealand New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga... ) |
13.1 | 2001 |
 Costa Rica |
7.8 | 2009 (October) |
 Independent State of Croatia |
16.8 | 2011 (July)http://www.dzs.hr/Hrv/system/first_results.htm |
 Cuba |
1.6 | 2009 |
 Cyprus |
7.4 | 2011 (May) |
 Czech Republic |
6.5 | 2011 (May) |
 Denmark |
7.4 | 2011 (May) |
 Djibouti |
59.0 | 2007 |
 Dominica |
23.0 | 2000 |
 Dominican Republic |
14.4 | 2010 (April) |
 East Timor |
20.0 | 2006 |
 Ecuador |
7.7 | 2010 (Q2) |
 Egypt |
9.4 | 2009 (Q4) |
 El Salvador |
7.2 | 2009 |
 Equatorial Guinea |
30.0 | 1998 |
 Estonia |
13.8 | 2011 (March) |
 European Union |
9.3 | 2011 (May) |
 Faroe Islands (DenmarkDenmark Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark... ) |
5.9 | 2010 (May) |
 Fiji |
8.6 | 2007 |
 Finland |
7.8 | 2011 (May) |
 Early Modern France |
9.5 | 2011 (May) |
 French Polynesia (FranceFrance The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France... ) |
11.7 | 2007 |
 Gabon |
21.0 | 2006 |
 Gaza Strip |
37.8 | 2010 |
 Georgia (country) |
16.9 | 2009 |
 Germany |
5.8 | 2011 (September) |
 Ghana |
3.6 | 2008 (September) |
 Gibraltar (United KingdomUnited Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... ) |
3.3 | 2005 |
 Greece |
18.4 | 2011 (August) |
 Greenland (DenmarkDenmark Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark... ) |
7.8 | 2009 |
 Grenada |
24.5 | 2009 (June) |
 Guam (United StatesUnited States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... ) |
56 | 2010 (August) |
 Guatemala |
3.2 | 2005 |
 Guernsey (United KingdomUnited Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... ) |
1.5 | 2010 (Q2) |
 Guyana |
9.0 | 2009 (July) |
 Honduras |
27.8 | 2007 |
 Hong Kong (ChinaPeople's Republic of China China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres... ) |
3.5 | 2011 (July) |
 Hungary |
10.0 | 2011 (May) |
 Iceland |
7.6 | 2010 (June) |
 India |
9.4 | 2010 (October) |
 Indonesia |
6.56 | 2011 (August) |
 Iran |
11.5 | 2011 (Q3) |
 Iraq |
18.0 | 2009 (February) |
 Republic of Ireland |
14.0 | 2011 (May) |
 Isle of Man |
1.8 | 2010 (August) |
 Israel |
5.4 | 2011 (June) |
 Italy |
8.1 | 2011 (May) |
 Jamaica |
11.3 | 2009 (July) |
 Japan |
4.1 | 2011 (September) |
 Jersey (United KingdomUnited Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... ) |
2.7 | 2009 (July) |
 Jordan |
11.9 | 2010 (Q4) |
 Kazakhstan |
6.1 | 2010 (May) |
 Kenya |
40.0 | 2009 |
 Kiribati |
38.2 | 2006 |
|-
|
Kuwait||1.5||2008 (March)|-
|
Kyrgyzstan||8.2||2008|-
|
Laos||2.5||2009|-
|
Latvia||16.2||2011 (March)|-
|
Lebanon||10.0||2009 (July)|-
|
Lesotho||22.7||2008|-
|
Liberia||3.6||2010|-
|
Libya||13.0||2005 (May)|-
|
Liechtenstein||1.5||2007 (December)|-
|
Lithuania||14.8||2011 (Q3)|-
|
Luxembourg||4.5||2011 (May)|-
|
Macau (ChinaPeople's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
)||3.0||2010 (April)
|-
|
Republic of Macedonia||32.0||2010|-
|
Malaysia||3.2||2010 (April)|-
|
Mali||30.0||2004|-
|
Malta||6.2||2011 (May)|-
|
Marshall Islands||30.9||1999|-
|
Mauritania||30.0||2008|-
|
Mauritius||8.4||2010 (Q1)|-
|
Mayotte (FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
)||25.4||2005
|-
|
Mexico||5.5||2010 (April)|-
|
Federated States of Micronesia||22.0||2000|-
|
Moldova||9.1||2010 (Q1)|-
|
Monaco||0.0||2011|-
|
Mongolia||12.2||2010 (Q1)|-
|
Kingdom of Montenegro||20.3||2009 (Q4)|-
|
Montserrat (United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
)||6.0||1998
|-
|
Morocco||10.0||2010 (Q1)|-
|
Mozambique||60.0||2009|-
|
Namibia||51.2||2008|-
|
Nauru||90.0||2004|-
|
Nepal||46.0||2008|-
|
Netherlands||4.2||2011 (May)|-
|
Netherlands Antilles (NetherlandsNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
)||10.0||2008
|-
||
New Caledonia (FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
)||17.1||2004
|-
|
New Zealand||6.6||2011 (March)|-
|
Nicaragua||5.9||2009|-
|
Nigeria||4.9%||2009 (March)|-
|
Norway||3.4||2011 (April)|-
|
Niue (New ZealandNew Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
)||10.7||2006
|-
|
Pakistan||15.4||2010|-
|
Palau||4.2||2005|-
|
Panama||7.1||2009|-
|
Papua New Guinea||1.8||2004|-
|
Paraguay||7.9||2009|-
|
Peru||7.7||2010 (May)|-
|
Philippines||7.2||2011 (April)|-
|
Poland||9.2||2011 (May))|-
|
Portugal||12.4||2011 (May)|-
|
Puerto Rico (United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
)||16||2011 (June)
|-
|
Qatar||0.5||2009|-
|
Kingdom of Romania||7.0||2011 (March)|-
|
Russia||7.6||2011 (January)|-
|
Saint Helena (United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
)||14.0||1998
|-
|
Saint Kitts and Nevis||4.5||1997|-
|
Saint Lucia||15.7||2006|-
|
Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
)||10.3||1999
|-
|
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines||18.0||2009 (June)|-
|
San Marino||3.1||2008|-
|
Saudi Arabia||10.8 (males only)||2010 |-
|
Senegal||48.0; 30% among adults aged 24 and under||2007|-
|
Serbia||27+||2011 (October)|-
|
Singapore||1.9||2011 (March)|-
|
Slovakia||13.3||2011 (May)|-
|
Slovenia||8.3||2011 (May)|-
|
South Africa||25.0||2011 (Q3)|-
|
South Korea||3.7||2010 (April)|-
|
Spain||21.5||2011 (October)|-
|
Sri Lanka||5.9||2009 (Q3)|-
|
Sudan||18.7||2002|-
|
Suriname||9.5||2004|-
|
Swaziland||40.6||2007|-
|
Sweden||7.7||2011 (May)|-
|
Switzerland||2.9||2010 (June)|-
|
Syria||9.2||2009|-
|
Republic of China (Taiwan)||5.14||2010 (May)|-
|
Tajikistan||60.0||2008 (August)|-
|
Thailand||1.2||2009 (September)|-
|
The Bahamas||12.6||2009 (September)|-
|
Tonga||1.1||2006|-
|
Trinidad and Tobago||5.8||2009 (Q3)|-
|
Tunisia||13.3||2009|-
|
Turkey||9.1 ||2011 (September)|-
|
Turkmenistan||70.0||2008 (November)|-
|
Turks and Caicos Islands||5.4||2007|-
|
Ukraine||9.2||2009 (December)|-
|
United Arab Emirates||12.7||2008|-
|
United Kingdom||8.3||2011 (August)|-
|
United States||9.0||2011 (October)|-
|
Uruguay||6.1||2011 (January)|-
|
Uzbekistan||8.0||2008 (December)|-
|
Vanuatu||78.21||1999|-
|
Venezuela||8.3||2011 (September)|-
|
Vietnam||2.9||2009 (April)|-
|
United States Virgin Islands (United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
)||7.9||2010 (April)
|-
|
Wallis and Futuna (FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
)||12.2||2008
|-
|
West Bank||17.2||2010 |-
|
Yemen||35.0||2009 (June)|-
|
Zambia||16.0||2005|-
|
Zimbabwe||97.0||2009|}