Top 100 Countries by Unemployment Rate (%), 2025
This page ranks countries by unemployment rate (share of the labour force without work, available for work, and actively seeking employment). The goal is not just “who is highest,” but how to read unemployment in context: labour market frictions, participation, sector shocks, and recession risk.
Data note (important): the 2025 unemployment series in this build comes from the IMF’s World Economic Outlook database (April 2025 edition). In that file, a 2025 value is available for 101 countries/territories; this page shows the Top 100 among them (coverage is shown below). Use the controls to search, sort, and filter.
LUR (Unemployment rate, percent of total labor force). Values are comparable across countries only to the extent that labour-force measurement, informality, and survey coverage are consistent.
Tip: use Search (country/ISO), Sort, and a Filter. On mobile, the same data appears as stacked cards for clean readability (no horizontal scrolling).
| Rank | Country | ISO | Unemployment 2025 (%) | Unemployment 2024 (%) | Change (pp) |
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Reading note: unemployment can rise even when “jobs exist” if people enter the labour force (higher participation) faster than jobs are created. It can also look artificially low where many people stop searching (discouragement), where informality absorbs shocks, or where surveys undercount. That’s why the next blocks discuss participation rate and employment-to-population—two metrics that often explain “paradox” rankings.
A ranking table is useful, but charts show the “shape” of unemployment. In many datasets, unemployment rates cluster around a middle band, with a small group of high-unemployment economies creating a long right tail. That tail matters: it often signals structural constraints (skills mismatch, weak private-sector job creation, rigid formal markets, informality, or persistent shocks), while the center band tends to reflect normal labour-market turnover and cyclical conditions.
Below are two visuals built from the same Top 100 list you saw above: (1) a bar chart for the Top 20 and (2) a histogram showing how the Top 100 are distributed. If charts fail to render for any reason, a readable fallback list will appear automatically (no blank boxes).
“Who is highest” is only one lens. The year-to-year change can be even more informative—especially for spotting cyclical weakening, post-shock normalization, or policy-driven transitions. The lists below show the largest increases and decreases (where a 2024 value exists in the same source).
Interpretation tip: a falling unemployment rate is not always “good news” if it happens because people stop searching (labour force shrinks). Likewise, a rising unemployment rate can occur alongside healthy hiring if participation rises faster than employment—common during recoveries.
An unemployment rate looks simple—one percentage that says how many people are jobless. But the indicator has a hidden structure: it only counts people who are in the labour force (working or actively looking for work). This is why unemployment can move in ways that feel counterintuitive. A country can create jobs and still see unemployment rise if a wave of people starts searching for work (higher participation). Another country can “improve” unemployment while the labour market actually weakens if many people stop searching and exit the labour force.
When you see a country high in the ranking, ask: (1) is this a cyclical shock or a structural issue? (2) what is happening to participation (who is counted as “looking”)? (3) does employment-to-population move in the same direction, or is the unemployment signal being “masked” by exits/entries?
For 2025, the Top 100 includes a wide spread—from very low unemployment in some economies to extremely high values in a small number of cases. The chart block above shows that the distribution is not symmetrical: most countries cluster in a middle band, while a short list sits in a high-unemployment tail. In practice, that tail often reflects one or more of the following: prolonged economic disruption, low private-sector absorption capacity, weak matching between skills and vacancies, or labour markets where formal job creation is limited and many people queue for formal employment.
It’s also essential to remember that unemployment is a labour-market flow measure. Every economy has normal turnover: people quit, new graduates search, firms restructure, seasonal work ends, and sectors reallocate. Even in “healthy” labour markets, unemployment rarely reaches zero, because some friction is inevitable. What matters is whether unemployment is persistent, concentrated among specific groups (youth, regions, education levels), and accompanied by low hiring or stagnant wages.
A recession-driven spike is typically cyclical unemployment: demand falls, firms cut hours or headcount, and job-finding slows. Cyclical unemployment often improves when growth stabilizes, credit conditions normalize, and confidence returns. By contrast, structural unemployment is stickier: even when demand improves, many jobseekers cannot match available roles (skills mismatch), or firms avoid hiring because labour costs, regulation, or uncertainty make long-term contracts risky.
Country rankings alone cannot fully separate these two, but you can infer patterns by comparing: the level (how high), the change (how fast it’s moving), and the distribution tail (are there chronic outliers). If a country’s unemployment is high and barely moves across years, it often hints at structural constraints. If it jumps or falls quickly, it may reflect cyclical swings or shock-and-recovery dynamics.
- High level + flat path: labour market segmentation, weak formal sector, long-term unemployment, education-to-jobs mismatch.
- High level + improving quickly: post-shock normalization, strong rehiring, targeted labour programs, or improved measurement coverage.
- Moderate level + rising: early recession risk, tightening financial conditions, or a participation-driven “catch-up” in job search.
- Low level + falling participation: possible hidden slack—check employment-to-population and inactivity rates before celebrating.
The key point: unemployment is a necessary indicator for labour-market stress, but it’s rarely sufficient. When possible, interpret it alongside participation rate and employment-to-population (or employment rate). Those two often explain why two countries with the same unemployment rate can have very different lived realities.
The labour force participation rate tells you how many working-age people are either employed or actively searching. The employment-to-population ratio tells you how many working-age people actually have a job. Together, they answer a crucial question: is unemployment high because few jobs exist, or because many people are actively trying to enter the labour market?
Here is a practical way to think about it. Imagine two countries, both with 8% unemployment. In Country A, participation is high and employment-to-population is also high: many people work, and some frictional unemployment is normal. In Country B, participation is low and employment-to-population is low: fewer people are working, but many are not counted as unemployed because they are not actively searching. The same unemployment rate can therefore represent two very different labour-market states.
If unemployment rises, check whether participation is also rising (more job search) or falling (discouragement). If unemployment falls, check employment-to-population to see whether people actually found jobs or simply stopped searching. This prevents misreading a ranking as a scoreboard.
Finally, the role of informality matters. In economies where informal work is common, shocks can be absorbed through hours and earnings rather than layoffs, which can keep measured unemployment lower than expected. That does not necessarily mean the labour market is healthy—underemployment and low productivity can be the real story.
Why can unemployment rise during a recovery?
Recoveries often pull people back into active job search (higher participation). If job creation is strong but not fast enough to absorb new entrants immediately, measured unemployment can rise temporarily even as hiring improves.
Does low unemployment always mean the labour market is strong?
Not always. Low unemployment can coincide with low participation (discouraged workers), demographic shifts, or measurement gaps. Check employment-to-population and participation before drawing conclusions.
How should I compare countries fairly?
Compare unemployment together with participation rate, employment-to-population, and (if available) youth unemployment and long-term unemployment. Also consider informality, survey frequency, and whether the figure is an estimate or a projection.
Is unemployment more about “policy” or “economics”?
Both. Macroeconomic demand sets the short-run hiring environment (cyclical). Policy and institutions shape matching efficiency, education pipelines, labour mobility, and incentives (structural). Rankings are best used to generate questions, then drill down into national detail.
- IMF — World Economic Outlook Database (April 2025 edition, download hub): open source
- IMF — Download entire WEO database (April 2025; includes “By Countries” file used for the embedded series): open source
- OECD — Unemployment rate (definition and measurement concept): open source
- ILO — Labour force / unemployment definition (statistical concept overview): open source
- UN SDG Metadata — Indicator 8.5.2 (unemployment rate concept and definition): open source
- World Bank — Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) (modeled ILO estimate) metadata: open source
- Eurostat — Unemployment definition (ILO-aligned, explained): open source
