Ranking of Countries by Unemployment Rate

The unemployment rate is a key indicator of the labor market condition in various countries around the world. It is defined as the proportion of unemployed people among the economically active population and is expressed as a percentage. This indicator is widely used in analyses and studies, as it reflects the current state of employment and the overall economic development of a country.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) regularly calculates the unemployment rate. The calculation includes all able-bodied people who do not have paid work or self-employment but are actively seeking work. This category excludes students, homemakers, and other economically inactive citizens.

Ranking of Countries by Unemployment Rate in 2024

Unemployment rate data allows for the assessment of employment trends and changes in the labor market. The importance of this indicator lies in its ability to reflect the socio-economic condition of a country and assist in the development of economic strategies and reforms.

Rank		Unemployment ratepercent	Life expectancyyears
1	Qatar	0.1	79.30
2	Cambodia	0.4	69.60
3	Niger	0.5	61.60
4	Thailand	0.9	78.70
5	Burundi	1	61.70
6	Chad	1.4	52.50
7	Bahrain	1.4	78.80
8	Cuba	1.4	73.70
9	Solomon Islands	1.5	70.30
10	Myanmar (Burma}	1.5	65.70
11	Benin	1.7	59.80
12	Vietnam	1.9	73.60
13	Vanuatu	2.1	70.40
14	Madagascar	2.1	64.50
15	Philippines	2.2	69.30
16	Oman	2.3	72.50
17	Moldova	2.3	68.80
18	Czechia	2.4	77.70
19	Kuwait	2.5	78.70
20	Côte d’Ivoire	2.6	58.60
21	Guatemala	2.6	69.20
22	Laos	2.6	68.10
23	Macao SAR China	2.6	85.40
24	Japan	2.6	84.80
25	Poland	2.6	76.50
26	United Arab Emirates	2.8	78.70
27	Tanzania	2.8	66.20
28	Malta	2.8	83.80
29	Papua New Guinea	2.8	65.40
30	Mali	2.8	58.90
31	South Korea	2.8	83.70
32	Singapore	2.8	82.80
33	North Korea	3	73.30
34	Germany Freelance visa Work visa The Blue Card The Chance Card Study visa Career Counseling Career support	3	80.60
35	Tonga	3	71.00
36	Norway	3.2	83.20
37	New Zealand	3.3	82.50
38	Mexico	3.3	70.20
39	Senegal	3.4	67.10
40	Hungary Visa Digital Nomad Business Residence Permit	3.4	74.50
41	Israel	3.5	82.30
42	Netherlands	3.5	81.70
43	United Kingdom	3.6	80.70
44	Indonesia	3.6	67.60
45	Guinea-Bissau	3.6	59.70
46	Sierra Leone	3.6	60.10
47	Liberia	3.6	60.70
48	United States	3.6	77.20
49	Bhutan	3.6	71.80
50	Peru	3.7	72.40
51	Malaysia	3.7	74.90
52	Australia	3.7	84.50
53	El Salvador	3.8	70.70
54	Iceland	3.8	82.70
55	Ghana	3.9	63.80
56	Mozambique	3.9	59.30
57	Cameroon	4	60.30
58	Ethiopia	4	65.00
59	Ecuador	4	73.70
60	Trinidad & Tobago	4	73.00
61	Togo	4.1	61.60
62	Belarus	4.2	72.40
63	Switzerland	4.2	84.00
64	Slovenia	4.2	80.70
65	Denmark	4.2	81.40
66	Fiji	4.3	67.10
67	Uganda	4.3	62.70
68	Bolivia	4.4	63.60
69	Ireland	4.4	82.00
70	Bulgaria Business Residence Permit	4.4	71.80
71	Kyrgyzstan	4.6	70.00
72	Bangladesh	4.7	72.40
73	Austria	4.7	81.60
74	Russia	4.7	69.40
75	Luxembourg	4.7	82.60
76	Gambia	4.8	62.10
77	China	4.9	78.20
78	Timor-Leste	4.9	67.70
79	Maldives	4.9	79.90
80	Turkmenistan	5	69.30
81	Kazakhstan	5	69.40
82	Congo - Kinshasa	5	59.20
83	Hong Kong SAR China	5.1	85.50
84	Burkina Faso	5.2	59.30
85	Canada	5.2	82.70
86	Venezuela	5.3	70.60
87	Romania	5.4	74.20
88	Azerbaijan	5.5	69.40
89	Kenya	5.5	61.40
90	Belgium	5.6	81.90
91	Nicaragua	5.6	73.80
92	Lithuania	5.6	73.70
93	Malawi	5.6	62.90
94	Saudi Arabia	5.6	76.90
95	Guinea	5.7	58.90
96	Portugal Visa Digital Nomad Financially Independent Residence Permit Freelance visa Study visa Startup visa	5.8	81.00
97	Nigeria	5.8	52.70
98	Estonia	5.9	77.10
99	Uzbekistan	6	70.90
100	Puerto Rico	6	80.20
101	Jamaica	6	70.50
102	Slovakia	6.1	74.90
103	Guam	6.1	76.70
104	Zambia	6.1	61.20
105	Central African Republic	6.4	53.90
106	Latvia	6.4	73.60
107	Pakistan	6.4	66.10
108	Argentina	6.5	75.40
109	Eritrea	6.6	66.50
110	Croatia Visa Digital Nomad	6.7	77.60
111	Sri Lanka	6.7	76.40
112	Finland	6.8	82.00
113	Jersey	6.9	80.70
114	Paraguay	6.9	70.30
115	Egypt	7	70.20
116	Cyprus	7	81.20
117	Dominican Republic	7.1	72.60
118	Honduras	7.1	70.10
119	Mauritius	7.2	73.60
120	Brunei	7.2	74.60
121	India	7.3	67.20
122	Sweden	7.4	83.00
123	France	7.4	82.50
124	Uruguay	7.8	75.40
125	Tajikistan	7.8	71.60
126	Chile	7.8	78.90
127	Zimbabwe	7.9	59.30
128	Italy Visa Digital Nomad Study visa	8.1	82.90
129	Mongolia	8.2	71.00
130	Barbados	8.2	77.60
131	Suriname	8.6	70.30
132	Equatorial Guinea	8.7	60.60
133	Comoros	8.8	63.40
134	Panama	8.8	76.20
135	Brazil	9.5	72.80
136	Serbia Business Residence Permit	9.5	74.20
137	Syria	9.6	72.10
138	Belize	9.7	70.50
139	Ukraine	9.8	71.60
140	Turkey Visa Digital Nomad	10	76.00
141	Bahamas	10.1	71.60
142	Angola	10.2	61.60
143	Samoa	10.3	72.80
144	Morocco	10.5	74.00
145	Colombia	10.7	72.80
146	Iran	11	73.90
147	Nepal	11.1	68.50
148	Mauritania	11.1	64.40
149	Georgia	11.3	71.70
150	Costa Rica	11.5	77.00
151	Algeria	11.6	76.40
152	Afghanistan	11.7	62.00
153	Albania	11.8	76.50
154	Greece	12.2	80.10
155	New Caledonia	12.3	79.00
156	Guyana	12.4	65.70
157	U.S. Virgin Islands	12.4	74.70
158	Armenia	12.6	72.00
159	Lebanon	12.6	75.00
160	South Sudan	13	55.00
161	Rwanda	13	66.10
162	Spain Visa Digital Nomad Startup Visa Study visa Financially Independent Residence Permit	13	83.00
163	French Polynesia	13.1	79.50
164	Yemen	13.6	63.80
165	Cape Verde	13.6	74.10
166	Bosnia & Herzegovina	14.1	75.30
167	Haiti	14.8	63.20
168	North Macedonia	15.1	73.80
169	São Tomé & Príncipe	15.3	67.60
170	Montenegro Visa Digital Nomad Business Residence Permit	15.4	76.30
171	Iraq	15.5	70.40
172	Tunisia	16.1	73.80
173	St. Lucia	17.4	71.10
174	Jordan	17.9	74.30
175	Lesotho	18	53.10
176	Sudan	18.7	65.30
177	St. Vincent & Grenadines	19	69.60
178	Somalia	20	55.30
179	Libya	20.7	71.90
180	Botswana	20.7	61.10
181	Namibia	20.8	59.30
182	Gabon	21.5	65.80
183	Eswatini	24.4	57.10
184	Palestinian Territories	25.7	73.50
185	Djibouti	27.9	62.30
186	South Africa	29.8	62.30
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Top 10 countries with the highest unemployment rate

The highest unemployment rate is now in the Republic of South Africa, the poorest country, where every third able-bodied citizen is currently unemployed (29.8% of the population is unemployed). This problem is associated with severe economic stagnation, structural problems in the labor market and severe political instability.

Djibouti is next to South Africa in the ranking, where almost a third of able-bodied citizens are also unemployed (27.9%). Next are the Palestinian Territories (25.7%), whose labor market is stagnating due to restrictions on movement due to the war with Israel.

The following are Eswatini (24.4%) and Gabon (21.5%), countries completely dependent on isolated agricultural and extractive industries. And then Nambia (20.8%), Botswana (20.7%), Libya (20.7%), Somalia (20%) and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (19%).

Top 10 countries with the lowest unemployment rate

Qatar has the lowest unemployment rate in the world today. Only 0.1% of the working-age population in the country, on the verge of error, does not have a job. This is due to a powerful economy supported by huge reserves of oil and gas. Qatar is followed by Cambodia (0.4% of able-bodied people out of work). Thanks to the economic boom in the textile industry and tourism, there are absolutely no problems with employment in the country. Niger is in third place (0.5%), where the majority of people are employed in agriculture. However, this also indicates the spread of unregistered employment and low working conditions.

Thailand (0.9%), Burundi (1%), Chad (1.4%), Bahrain (1.4%), Cuba (1.4%), Solomon Islands (1.5%) and Myanmar (1.5%) are in fourth place in the ranking. All these countries, although formally they have low unemployment, in fact almost all of them are dependent on heavy manual labor in agriculture, fishing or mining. Working conditions and earnings in these areas are usually quite poor.

Thanks to its low unemployment rate, cultural heritage and high quality of life, Italy continues to attract migrants from all over the world. If you are considering moving, then it is worth looking at the programs for obtaining an Italian residence permit.

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