| Field Listing - Unemployment rate
Home Reference Maps Appendixes Rank Order List
Country | Unemployment rate (%)
Afghanistan | 40% (2005 est.)
Albania | 13% official rate, but may exceed 30% due to preponderance of near-subsistence farming (2007 est.)
Algeria | 13% (2007 est.)
American Samoa | 29.8% (2005)
Andorra | 0% (1996 est.)
Angola | extensive unemployment and underemployment affecting more than half the population (2001 est.)
Anguilla | 8% (2002)
Antigua and Barbuda | 11% (2001 est.)
Argentina | 14.1% (2007 est.)
Armenia | 7.1% (2007 est.)
Aruba | 6.9% (2005 est.)
Australia | 4.4% (2007 est.)
Austria | 4.4% (2007 est.)
Azerbaijan | 4.3% official rate (2007 est.)
Bahamas, The | 7.6% (2006 est.)
Bahrain | 15% (2005 est.)
Bangladesh | 1% (includes underemployment) (2007 est.)
Barbados | 10.7% (2003 est.)
Belarus | 1.6% officially registered unemployed; large number of underemployed workers (2005)
Belgium | 7.5% (2007 est.)
Belize | 9.4% (2006)
Benin | NA%
Bermuda | 2.1% (2004 est.)
Bhutan | 2.5% (2004)
Bolivia | 7.5% in urban areas; widespread underemployment (2007 est.)
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 45.5% official rate; grey economy may reduce actual unemployment to 25-30% (31 December 2004 est.)
Botswana | 7.5% (2007 est.)
Brazil | 9.3% (2007 est.)
British Virgin Islands | 3.6% (1997)
Brunei | 4% (2006)
Bulgaria | 7.7% (2007 est.)
Burkina Faso | 77% (2004)
Burma | 10.2% (2007 est.)
Burundi | NA%
Cambodia | 2.5% (2000 est.)
Cameroon | 30% (2001 est.)
Canada | 6% (2007 est.)
Cape Verde | 21% (2000 est.)
Cayman Islands | 4.4% (2004)
Central African Republic | 8% (23% for Bangui) (2001 est.)
Chad | NA%
Chile | 7% (2007 est.)
China | 4% unemployment in urban areas; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (2007 est.)
Cocos (Keeling) Islands | 60% (2000 est.)
Colombia | 11.2% (2007 est.)
Comoros | 20% (1996 est.)
Congo, Democratic Republic of the | NA%
Congo, Republic of the | NA%
Cook Islands | 13.1% (2005)
Costa Rica | 4.6% (2007 est.)
Cote d'Ivoire | unemployment may have climbed to 40-50% as a result of the civil war
Croatia | 11.8% (2007 est.)
Cuba | 1.8% (2007 est.)
Cyprus | 3.9% (2007 est.)
Czech Republic | 6.6% (2007 est.)
Denmark | 2.8% (2007 est.)
Djibouti | 59% in urban areas, 83% in rural areas (2007 est.)
Dominica | 23% (2000 est.)
Dominican Republic | 15.6% (2007 est.)
Ecuador | 9.3% (2007 est.)
Egypt | 9.1% (2007 est.)
El Salvador | 6.2% official rate; but the economy has much underemployment (2007 est.)
Equatorial Guinea | 30% (1998 est.)
Eritrea | NA%
Estonia | 4.7% (2007 est.)
Ethiopia | NA%
European Union | 8.5% (2006 est.)
Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) | full employment; labor shortage (2001)
Faroe Islands | 2.1% (2006)
Fiji | 7.6% (1999)
Finland | 6.8% (2007 est.)
France | 8.3% (2007 est.)
French Polynesia | 11.7% (2005)
Gabon | 21% (2006 est.)
Gambia, The | NA%
Gaza Strip | 34.8% (2006)
Georgia | 13.6% (2006 est.)
Germany | 8.4% note: this is the International Labor Organization's estimated rate for international comparisons; Germany's Federal Employment Office estimated a seasonally adjusted rate of 10.8% (2007 est.)
Ghana | 11% (2000 est.)
Gibraltar | 3% (2005 est.)
Greece | 8.3% (2007 est.)
Greenland | 9.3% (2005 est.)
Grenada | 12.5% (2000)
Guam | 11.4% (2002 est.)
Guatemala | 3.2% (2005 est.)
Guernsey | 0.9% (March 2006 est.)
Guinea | NA%
Guinea-Bissau | NA%
Guyana | 9.1% (understated) (2000)
Haiti | widespread unemployment and underemployment; more than two-thirds of the labor force do not have formal jobs (2002 est.)
Honduras | 27.8% (2007 est.)
Hong Kong | 4.1% (2007 est.)
Hungary | 7.3% (2007 est.)
Iceland | 1% (2007 est.)
India | 7.2% (2007 est.)
Indonesia | 9.6% (2007 est.)
Iran | 12% according to the Iranian government (2007 est.)
Iraq | 18% to 30% (2006 est.)
Ireland | 4.6% (2007 est.)
Isle of Man | 1.5% (December 2006 est.)
Israel | 7.3% (2007 est.)
Italy | 6% (2007 est.)
Jamaica | 9.9% (2007 est.)
Japan | 3.9% (2007 est.)
Jersey | 2.2% (2006 est.)
Jordan | 13.5% official rate; unofficial rate is approximately 30% (2007 est.)
Kazakhstan | 7.3% (2007 est.)
Kenya | 40% (2001 est.)
Kiribati | 2% official rate; underemployment 70% (1992 est.)
Korea, North | NA%
Korea, South | 3.3% (2007 est.)
Kosovo | 43% (2007 est.)
Kuwait | 2.2% (2004 est.)
Kyrgyzstan | 18% (2004 est.)
Laos | 2.4% (2005 est.)
Latvia | 5.7% (2007 est.)
Lebanon | 20% (2006 est.)
Lesotho | 45% (2002)
Liberia | 85% (2003 est.)
Libya | 30% (2004 est.)
Liechtenstein | 1.3% (September 2002)
Lithuania | 3.5% note: based on survey data, official registered unemployment of 5.7% (2007 est.)
Luxembourg | 4.4% (2007 est.)
Macau | 3.1% (2006)
Macedonia | 35% (2007 est.)
Malawi | NA%
Malaysia | 3.2% (2007 est.)
Maldives | NEGL% (2003 est.)
Mali | 30% (2004 est.)
Malta | 6.3% (2007 est.)
Marshall Islands | 30.9% (2000 est.)
Mauritania | 20% (2004 est.)
Mauritius | 8.8% (2007 est.)
Mayotte | 25.4% (2005)
Mexico | 3.7% plus underemployment of perhaps 25% (2007 est.)
Micronesia, Federated States of | 22% (2000 est.)
Moldova | 2.1%; note - roughly 25% of working age Moldovans are employed abroad (2007 est.)
Monaco | 0% (2005)
Mongolia | 3% (2007)
Montenegro | 14.7% (2007 est.)
Montserrat | 6% (1998 est.)
Morocco | 2.1% (2007 est.)
Mozambique | 21% (1997 est.)
Namibia | 5.2% (2007 est.)
Nauru | 90% (2004 est.)
Nepal | 42% (2004 est.)
Netherlands | 3.2% (2007 est.)
Netherlands Antilles | 17% (2002 est.)
New Caledonia | 17.1% (2004)
New Zealand | 3.6% (2007 est.)
Nicaragua | 3.6% plus underemployment of 46.5% (2007 est.)
Niger | NA%
Nigeria | 4.9% (2007 est.)
Niue | 12% (2001)
Northern Mariana Islands | 3.9% (2001)
Norway | 2.5% (2007 est.)
Oman | 15% (2004 est.)
Pakistan | 7.5% plus substantial underemployment (2007 est.)
Palau | 4.2% (2005 est.)
Panama | 6.4% (2007 est.)
Papua New Guinea | 1.9% up to 80% in urban areas (2004)
Paraguay | 5.6% (2007 est.)
Peru | 6.9% in metropolitan Lima; widespread underemployment (2007 est.)
Philippines | 7.3% (2007 est.)
Poland | 12.8% (2007 est.)
Portugal | 7.7% (2007 est.)
Puerto Rico | 12% (2002)
Qatar | 0.7% (2007 est.)
Romania | 4.1% (2007 est.)
Russia | 6.2% (2007 est.)
Rwanda | NA%
Saint Helena | 14% (1998 est.)
Saint Kitts and Nevis | 4.5% (1997)
Saint Lucia | 20% (2003 est.)
Saint Pierre and Miquelon | 10.3% (1999)
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | 15% (2001 est.)
Samoa | NA%
San Marino | 3.8% (2004)
Sao Tome and Principe | NA%
Saudi Arabia | 13% among Saudi males only (local bank estimate; some estimates range as high as 25%) (2004 est.)
Senegal | 48% (2007 est.)
Serbia | 18.8% (2007 est.)
Seychelles | 2% (2006 est.)
Sierra Leone | NA%
Singapore | 2.1% (2007 est.)
Slovakia | 8.4% (2007 est.)
Slovenia | 4.8% (2007 est.)
Solomon Islands | NA%
Somalia | NA%
South Africa | 24.3% (2007 est.)
Spain | 8.3% (2007 est.)
Sri Lanka | 5.7% (2007 est.)
Sudan | 18.7% (2002 est.)
Suriname | 9.5% (2004)
Swaziland | 40% (2006 est.)
Sweden | 6.1% (2007 est.)
Switzerland | 2.5% (2007 est.)
Syria | 9% (2007 est.)
Taiwan | 3.9% (2007 est.)
Tajikistan | 2.4% official rate; actual unemployment is higher (2007 est.)
Tanzania | NA%
Thailand | 1.4% (2007 est.)
Timor-Leste | 50% estimated; note - unemployment in urban areas reached 20%; data do not include underemployed (2001 est.)
Togo | NA%
Tokelau | NA%
Tonga | 13% (FY03/04 est.)
Trinidad and Tobago | 6.5% (2007 est.)
Tunisia | 14.1% (2007 est.)
Turkey | 9.9% plus underemployment of 4% (2007 est.)
Turkmenistan | 60% (2004 est.)
Turks and Caicos Islands | 10% (1997 est.)
Tuvalu | NA%
Uganda | NA%
Ukraine | 2.3% officially registered; large number of unregistered or underemployed workers; the International Labor Organization calculates that Ukraine's real unemployment level is nearly 7% (2007 est.)
United Arab Emirates | 2.4% (2001)
United Kingdom | 5.4% (2007 est.)
United States | 4.6% (2007 est.)
Uruguay | 9.2% (2007 est.)
Uzbekistan | 0.8% officially by the Ministry of Labor, plus another 20% underemployed (2007 est.)
Vanuatu | 1.7% (1999)
Venezuela | 8.5% (2007 est.)
Vietnam | 5.3% (2007 est.)
Virgin Islands | 6.2% (2004)
Wallis and Futuna | 15.2% (2003)
West Bank | 18.6% (2006)
Western Sahara | NA%
World | 30% combined unemployment and underemployment in many non-industrialized countries; developed countries typically 4%-12% unemployment (2007 est.)
Yemen | 35% (2003 est.)
Zambia | 50% (2000 est.)
Zimbabwe | 80% (2005 est.)
This page was last updated on 19 June 2008