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  Field Listing - Unemployment rate


Country
Unemployment rate (%)
Afghanistan 40% (2008 est.)
Albania 12.5% official rate, but may exceed 30% due to preponderance of near-subsistence farming (2008 est.)
Algeria 12.9% (2008 est.)
American Samoa 29.8% (2005)
Andorra 0% (2007)
Angola extensive unemployment and underemployment affecting more than half the population (2001 est.)
Anguilla 8% (2002)
Antigua and Barbuda 11% (2001 est.)
Argentina 7.8% (September 2008)
Armenia 7.1% (2007 est.)
Aruba 6.9% (2005 est.)
Australia 4.5% (2008 est.)
Austria 3.7% (2008 est.)
Azerbaijan 0.8% official rate (2008 est.)
Bahamas, The 7.6% (2006 est.)
Bahrain 15% (2005 est.)
Bangladesh 2.5% (includes underemployment) (2008 est.)
Barbados 10.7% (2003 est.)
Belarus 1.6% officially registered unemployed; large number of underemployed workers (2005)
Belgium 6.5% (2008)
Belize 8.5% (2007)
Benin NA%
Bermuda 2.1% (2004 est.)
Bhutan 2.5% (2004)
Bolivia 7.5% in urban areas; widespread underemployment (2008 est.)
Bosnia and Herzegovina 29% official rate; grey economy may reduce actual unemployment to 25-30% (2007 est.)
Botswana 7.5% (2007 est.)
Brazil 8% (2008 est.)
British Virgin Islands 3.6% (1997)
Brunei 3.7% (2008)
Bulgaria 6.3% (2008)
Burkina Faso 77% (2004)
Burma 9.4% (2008 est.)
Burundi NA%
Cambodia 3.5% (2007 est.)
Cameroon 30% (2001 est.)
Canada 6.1% (2008 est.)
Cape Verde 21% (2000 est.)
Cayman Islands 4.4% (2004)
Central African Republic 8% (23% for Bangui) (2001 est.)
Chad NA%
Chile 7.5% (August-October 2008)
China 4% officially in urban areas, but including migrants may be as high as 9%; substantial unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (2008 est.)
Cocos (Keeling) Islands 60% (2000 est.)
Colombia 11.8% (2008 est.)
Comoros 20% (1996 est.)
Congo, Democratic Republic of the NA%
Congo, Republic of the NA%
Cook Islands 13.1% (2005)
Costa Rica 5.6% (2008 est.)
Cote d'Ivoire unemployment may have climbed to 40-50% as a result of the civil war
Croatia 14.8% (2008 est.)
Cuba 1.8% (2008 est.)
Cyprus 3.8% (2008 est.)
Czech Republic 6% (2008)
Denmark 2% (2008 est.)
Djibouti 59% in urban areas, 83% in rural areas (2007 est.)
Dominica 23% (2000 est.)
Dominican Republic 15.4% (2008 est.)
Ecuador 8.7% (2008 est.)
Egypt 8.7% (2008 est.)
El Salvador 6.3% official rate; but the economy has much underemployment (2008 est.)
Equatorial Guinea 30% (1998 est.)
Eritrea NA%
Estonia 6.2% (30 September 2008 est.)
Ethiopia NA%
European Union 7.5% (2008 est.)
Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas) full employment; labor shortage (2001)
Faroe Islands 1.4% (2007)
Fiji 7.6% (1999)
Finland 6.4% (2008 est.)
France 7.4% (2008 est.)
French Polynesia 11.7% (2005)
Gabon 21% (2006 est.)
Gambia, The NA%
Gaza Strip 41.3% (June 2008)
Georgia 13.6% (2006 est.)
Germany 7.9%
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% (2008 est.)
Ghana 11% (2000 est.)
Gibraltar 3% (2005 est.)
Greece 8% (2008 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 11% (2007)
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% (December 2008 est.)
Hungary 8% (2008 est.)
Iceland 1.6%
note: this figure climbed to 9.4% as of February 2009 (2008 est.)
India 6.8% (2008 est.)
Indonesia 8.4% (2008 est.)
Iran 12.5% according to the Iranian government (2008 est.)
Iraq 18.2% to 30% (2008 est.)
Ireland 6.2% (2008 est.)
Isle of Man 1.5% (December 2006 est.)
Israel 6.1% (2008 est.)
Italy 6.8% (2008 est.)
Jamaica 10.1% (2008 est.)
Japan 4.2% (2008 est.)
Jersey 2.2% (2006 est.)
Jordan 12.9% official rate; unofficial rate is approximately 30% (2008 est.)
Kazakhstan 6.9% (2008 est.)
Kenya 40% (2008 est.)
Kiribati 2% official rate; underemployment 70% (1992 est.)
Korea, North NA%
Korea, South 3.2% (2008 est.)
Kosovo 40% (2007 est.)
Kuwait 2.2% (2004 est.)
Kyrgyzstan 18% (2004 est.)
Laos 2.4% (2005 est.)
Latvia 5.5% (2008 est.)
Lebanon 9.2% (2007 est.)
Lesotho 45% (2002)
Liberia 85% (2003 est.)
Libya 30% (2004 est.)
Liechtenstein 1.5% (31 December 2007)
Lithuania 4.8%
note: based on survey data, official registered unemployment of 5.7% (2008 est.)
Luxembourg 4.7% (2008 est.)
Macau 3% (2008)
Macedonia 34.5% (2008 est.)
Malawi NA%
Malaysia 3.7% (2008 est.)
Maldives 14.4% (2006 est.)
Mali 30% (2004 est.)
Malta 6.4% (2007)
Marshall Islands 36% (2006 est.)
Mauritania 30% (2008 est.)
Mauritius 7.6% (2008 est.)
Mayotte 25.4% (2005)
Mexico 4.1% plus underemployment of perhaps 25% (October 2008)
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 2.8% (2008)
Montenegro 14.7% (2007 est.)
Montserrat 6% (1998 est.)
Morocco 10% (2008 est.)
Mozambique 21% (1997 est.)
Namibia 5% (2008 est.)
Nauru 90% (2004 est.)
Nepal 46% (2008 est.)
Netherlands 4.5% (2008 est.)
Netherlands Antilles 17% (2002 est.)
New Caledonia 17.1% (2004)
New Zealand 4% (2008 est.)
Nicaragua 3.9% plus underemployment of 46.5% (2008 est.)
Niger NA%
Nigeria NA
Niue 12% (2001)
Northern Mariana Islands 8% (2005 est.)
Norway 2.6% (2008 est.)
Oman 15% (2004 est.)
Pakistan 7.4% plus substantial underemployment (2008 est.)
Palau 4.2% (2005 est.)
Panama 6.3% (2008 est.)
Papua New Guinea 1.9% up to 80% in urban areas (2004)
Paraguay 5.4% (2008 est.)
Peru 8.4% in metropolitan Lima; widespread underemployment (2008 est.)
Philippines 7.4% (2008 est.)
Poland 9.7% (2008 est.)
Portugal 7.6% (2008 est.)
Puerto Rico 12% (2002)
Qatar 0.6% (2008 est.)
Romania 3.6% (2008 est.)
Russia 6.2% (2008 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 3.1% (2008)
Sao Tome and Principe NA%
Saudi Arabia 8.8% among Saudi males only (local bank estimate; some estimates range as high as 25%) (2008 est.)
Senegal 48% (2007 est.)
Serbia 18.8% (2007 est.)
Seychelles 2% (2006 est.)
Sierra Leone NA%
Singapore 2.3% (2008 est.)
Slovakia 8.4% (2008)
Slovenia 6.7% (2008 est.)
Solomon Islands NA%
Somalia NA%
South Africa 21.7% (2008 est.)
Spain 13.9% (2008 est.)
Sri Lanka 5.2% (30 September 2008 est.)
Sudan 18.7% (2002 est.)
Suriname 9.5% (2004)
Swaziland 40% (2006 est.)
Sweden 6.4% (2008 est.)
Switzerland 3% (December 2008)
Syria 9% (2008 est.)
Taiwan 4.1% (2008 est.)
Tajikistan 2.3% official rate; actual unemployment is higher (2008 est.)
Tanzania NA%
Thailand 1.2% (2008 est.)
Timor-Leste 20% in rural areas, rising to more than 40% among urban youth (2006 est.)
Togo NA%
Tokelau NA%
Tonga 13% (FY03/04 est.)
Trinidad and Tobago 5.3% (2008 est.)
Tunisia 14% (2008 est.)
Turkey 7.9% plus underemployment of 4% (2008 est.)
Turkmenistan 60% (2004 est.)
Turks and Caicos Islands 10% (1997 est.)
Tuvalu NA%
Uganda NA%
Ukraine 3% officially registered; large number of unregistered or underemployed workers (2008 est.)
United Arab Emirates 2.4% (2001)
United Kingdom 5.5% (2008 est.)
United States 7.2% (December 2008 est.)
Uruguay 7.6% (2008 est.)
Uzbekistan 0.9% officially by the Ministry of Labor, plus another 20% underemployed (2008 est.)
Vanuatu 1.7% (1999)
Venezuela 8.5% (2008 est.)
Vietnam 4.9% (2008 est.)
Virgin Islands 6.2% (2004)
Wallis and Futuna 15.2% (2003)
West Bank 16.3% (June 2008)
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 14 May 2009
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