The unemployment rate is defined as the percentage of unemployed workers in the total labor force. Workers are considered unemployed if they currently do not work, despite the fact that they are able and willing to do so. The total labor force consists of all employed and unemployed people within an economy.
The unemployment rate provides insights into the economy’s spare capacity and unused resources. Unemployment tends to be cyclical and decreases when the economy expands as companies contract more workers to meet growing demand. Unemployment usually increases as economic activity slows.
There are different types of unemployment: Frictional unemployment refers to temporary unemployment during the period when people are searching for a job. Structural unemployment is a mismatch between workers’ skills or locations and job requirements. Seasonal unemployment is caused by seasonal patterns in economic activity, such as harvesting or tourism.
The methodology for calculating the unemployment rate often varies among countries since different definitions of employment and unemployment, as well as different data sources, are used.
This chart displays Unemployment (% of active population, aop) for Latin America, Euro Area, South Asia, Major Economies, Middle East & North Africa from 2010 to 2022.
Unemployment Rate Data
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albania | 13.8 | 12.3 | 11.6 | 11.7 | 11.6 |
| Algeria | 10.3 | 10.4 | 10.5 | 12.2 | 11.7 |
| Angola | 9.5 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 10.4 | 10.4 |
| Argentina | 8.4 | 9.2 | 9.8 | 11.5 | 8.8 |
| Armenia | 20.7 | 20.4 | 19.0 | 17.9 | 15.4 |
| Australia | 5.6 | 5.3 | 5.2 | 6.5 | 5.1 |
| Austria | 5.9 | 5.2 | 4.8 | 6.1 | 6.2 |
| Azerbaijan | 5.0 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 6.4 | 6.4 |
| Bahrain | 4.1 | 4.3 | 4.7 | 5.9 | 6.6 |
| Bangladesh | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 5.2 | 5.1 |
| Belarus | 5.7 | 4.8 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 3.9 |
| Belgium | 7.1 | 6.0 | 5.4 | 5.6 | 6.3 |
| Belize | 6.6 | 7.8 | 9.1 | 10.8 | 10.3 |
| Bolivia | 5.1 | 4.9 | 5.0 | 8.3 | 7.0 |
| Bosnia-Herz. | 38.4 | 36.0 | 33.1 | 33.8 | 32.4 |
| Botswana | 19.6 | 19.8 | 20.1 | 21.0 | 21.2 |
| Brazil | 12.9 | 12.4 | 12.1 | 13.5 | 13.5 |
| Brunei | 9.3 | 8.7 | 6.9 | 7.4 | 7.4 |
| Bulgaria | 7.2 | 6.2 | 5.2 | 6.1 | 5.3 |
| Cambodia | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Cameroon | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.9 | 4.1 |
| Canada | 6.4 | 5.9 | 5.7 | 9.7 | 7.5 |
| CdI | 3.3 | 2.8 | 2.4 | 2.7 | 2.8 |
| Chile | 6.9 | 7.3 | 7.2 | 10.6 | 9.1 |
| China | 5.1 | 4.9 | 5.2 | 5.6 | 5.1 |
| Colombia | 9.7 | 10.0 | 10.9 | 16.7 | 13.8 |
| Costa Rica | 9.1 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 19.6 | 16.4 |
| Croatia | 11.0 | 8.4 | 6.7 | 7.7 | 7.7 |
| Cuba | 1.7 | 1.7 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 1.5 |
| Cyprus | 11.1 | 8.4 | 7.1 | 7.6 | 7.5 |
| Czech Republic | 2.9 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 2.8 |
| Denmark | 5.8 | 5.2 | 5.0 | 5.6 | 5.1 |
| Dominican Republic | 5.5 | 5.7 | 6.2 | 5.8 | 7.4 |
| DR Congo | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 5.1 | 5.1 |
| Ecuador | 4.4 | 4.1 | 4.4 | 5.0 | 5.2 |
| Egypt | 11.8 | 9.9 | 7.9 | 8.0 | 7.4 |
| El Salvador | 7.1 | 6.4 | 6.3 | 6.9 | 6.3 |
| Estonia | 5.8 | 5.4 | 4.5 | 6.8 | 6.2 |
| Ethiopia | 2.9 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 3.9 |
| Euro Area | 9.1 | 8.2 | 7.6 | 8.0 | 7.7 |
| Finland | 8.7 | 7.4 | 6.7 | 7.8 | 7.6 |
| France | 9.4 | 9.0 | 8.4 | 8.0 | 7.9 |
| Georgia | 21.6 | 19.3 | 17.6 | 18.5 | 20.6 |
| Germany | 5.7 | 5.2 | 5.0 | 5.9 | 5.7 |
| Ghana | 3.4 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 3.9 |
| Greece | 21.8 | 19.8 | 17.9 | 17.6 | 14.8 |
| Guatemala | 2.5 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 3.6 | 3.6 |
| Haiti | 13.9 | 13.9 | 13.9 | 15.5 | 15.7 |
| Honduras | 6.7 | 5.7 | 5.7 | 10.9 | 8.6 |
| Hong Kong | 3.2 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 5.5 | 5.4 |
| Hungary | 4.1 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 4.0 | 4.1 |
| Iceland | 3.3 | 3.1 | 3.9 | 6.4 | 6.0 |
| Indonesia | 5.4 | 5.2 | 5.1 | 6.0 | 6.4 |
| Iran | 12.1 | 12.1 | 10.7 | 9.6 | 9.2 |
| Iraq | 13.0 | 14.1 | 15.1 | 16.2 | 16.2 |
| Ireland | 6.8 | 5.8 | 5.0 | 5.8 | 6.2 |
| Israel | 4.2 | 4.0 | 3.8 | 4.3 | 5.0 |
| Italy | 11.3 | 10.6 | 9.9 | 9.3 | 9.5 |
| Jamaica | 11.7 | 9.1 | 7.7 | 9.5 | 8.4 |
| Japan | 2.8 | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 2.8 |
| Jordan | 18.3 | 18.6 | 19.1 | 22.7 | 24.1 |
| Kazakhstan | 4.9 | 4.9 | 4.8 | 4.9 | 4.9 |
| Kenya | 3.5 | 4.2 | 5.0 | 5.6 | 5.6 |
| Korea | 3.7 | 3.8 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.7 |
| Kosovo | 30.5 | 29.5 | 25.7 | 26.0 | 20.8 |
| Kuwait | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 3.3 | 2.8 |
| Kyrgyzstan | 2.4 | 2.6 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 3.0 |
| Laos | 3.3 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 3.6 | 3.6 |
| Latvia | 8.7 | 7.4 | 6.3 | 8.1 | 7.5 |
| Lebanon | 10.2 | 10.7 | 11.3 | 13.0 | 12.5 |
| Lithuania | 7.1 | 6.2 | 6.3 | 8.5 | 7.2 |
| Luxembourg | 5.9 | 5.5 | 5.4 | 6.4 | 5.7 |
| Malaysia | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.3 | 4.5 | 4.6 |
| Malta | 4.0 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 4.4 | 3.4 |
| Mexico | 3.4 | 3.3 | 3.5 | 4.4 | 4.1 |
| Moldova | 4.0 | 3.0 | 5.1 | 3.8 | 3.3 |
| Mongolia | 8.8 | 7.7 | 10.0 | 7.0 | 8.2 |
| Montenegro | 16.1 | 15.2 | 15.1 | 17.9 | 16.7 |
| Morocco | 10.3 | 9.6 | 9.2 | 11.9 | 12.3 |
| Mozambique | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.8 | 3.9 |
| Myanmar | 1.4 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 1.5 | - |
| Netherlands | 5.9 | 4.9 | 4.4 | 4.9 | 4.2 |
| New Zealand | 4.8 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 4.6 | 3.8 |
| Nicaragua | 3.7 | 5.4 | 5.6 | 5.0 | 4.5 |
| Nigeria | 17.5 | 22.6 | - | - | - |
| North Macedonia | 22.4 | 20.7 | 17.3 | 16.4 | 15.7 |
| Norway | 4.2 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 4.6 | 4.4 |
| Oman | 2.6 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 2.9 | 2.5 |
| Pakistan | 5.8 | 5.8 | 6.9 | 6.6 | 6.3 |
| Panama | 5.5 | 5.3 | 6.4 | 18.6 | 10.3 |
| Paraguay | 5.2 | 5.7 | 5.6 | 6.9 | - |
| Peru | 6.9 | 6.7 | 6.6 | 12.8 | 11.3 |
| Philippines | 5.7 | 5.3 | 5.1 | 10.4 | 7.8 |
| Poland | 7.3 | 6.1 | 5.4 | 6.0 | 6.4 |
| Portugal | 9.2 | 7.2 | 6.6 | 7.0 | 6.6 |
| Puerto Rico | 10.8 | 9.2 | 8.3 | 8.9 | 7.9 |
| Qatar | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Romania | 6.1 | 5.3 | 4.9 | 6.1 | 5.6 |
| Russia | 5.2 | 4.8 | 4.6 | 5.8 | 4.8 |
| Rwanda | 11.9 | 12.1 | 12.4 | 13.0 | 13.3 |
| Saudi Arabia | 5.9 | 6.0 | 5.6 | 7.7 | 6.6 |
| Senegal | 4.1 | 3.6 | 2.9 | 3.5 | 3.5 |
| Serbia | 13.5 | 12.7 | 10.4 | 9.0 | 11.1 |
| Singapore | 2.2 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 3.0 | 2.7 |
| Slovakia | 8.1 | 6.5 | 5.7 | 6.7 | 6.8 |
| Slovenia | 6.6 | 5.1 | 4.5 | 5.0 | 4.8 |
| South Africa | 27.5 | 27.1 | 28.7 | 29.2 | 34.3 |
| Spain | 17.2 | 15.3 | 14.1 | 15.5 | 14.8 |
| Sri Lanka | 4.2 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 5.5 | 5.2 |
| Sudan | 17.0 | 16.9 | 16.8 | 17.7 | - |
| Sweden | 6.9 | 6.5 | 7.0 | 8.5 | 8.8 |
| Switzerland | 3.1 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 3.0 |
| Taiwan | 3.8 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 3.8 | 4.0 |
| Tajikistan | 6.9 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.5 | 7.7 |
| Tanzania | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.8 | 2.7 |
| Thailand | 1.2 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.7 | 1.9 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 4.8 | 3.9 | 4.3 | 5.7 | 5.4 |
| Tunisia | 15.4 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 16.7 | 17.6 |
| Turkey | 10.9 | 10.9 | 13.7 | 13.1 | 12.0 |
| Turkmenistan | 4.2 | 4.2 | 4.3 | 5.0 | 5.1 |
| UAE | 2.5 | 2.2 | 2.3 | 4.3 | 3.1 |
| Uganda | 3.6 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 4.5 | 4.3 |
| Ukraine | 9.5 | 8.8 | 8.3 | 9.5 | 9.9 |
| United Kingdom | 4.4 | 4.1 | 3.8 | 4.6 | 4.5 |
| United States | 4.4 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 8.1 | 5.4 |
| Uruguay | 7.9 | 8.4 | 8.9 | 10.4 | 9.3 |
| Uzbekistan | 5.3 | 8.7 | 9.2 | 10.8 | 9.9 |
| Venezuela | 7.2 | 6.9 | - | - | - |
| Vietnam | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.2 | 2.5 | 3.1 |
| Yemen | 13.3 | 13.1 | 13.0 | 13.6 | 13.9 |
| Zambia | 8.5 | 5.0 | 5.5 | 6.0 | 6.2 |
| Zimbabwe | 6.3 | 6.8 | 7.4 | 7.9 | 8.1 |