This report focuses on the latest annual unemployment rates for 25 of the world’s richest countries.
Unemployment rates are typically calculated as a percentage of a country’s labor force, consisting of employed people plus the unemployed.
The Economist explains that the unemployment rate is a lagging indicator of the state-of-the economy cycle. Compared with the average unemployment rate over the past few years, higher unemployment portends a recessionary gap. Low unemployment at the top of the cycle is broadly indicative of inflationary pressures. As an economic signal, unemployment lags the overall state-of-the-economy by perhaps 6 to 12 months.
Please bear in mind that here are many variations on how different nations determine their unemployment rates. For example, Germany excludes the self-employed from its labor force statistics. Also, governments tend to vary which factors comprise their national unemployment percentages. These deviations can make the jobless rate move up, or more usually down, by several percentage points.
Richest Countries’ Annual Unemployment Rates Compared
Listed below are the yearly unemployment rates for 25 among the world’s wealthiest nations in 2008, 2019 and with the latest metrics from the International Monetary Fund for 2020.
You can change the presentation order by clicking the triangle icons at the top of each column. Starting with the largest economy, the Rank column refers to the relative size of each country in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on a Purchasing Power Parity basis. To the right are 2 change-related columns that document the change since 2019 and 2008 in terms of percentage points for each year rather than as percentage amounts.
| Rank | Country | 2020 | 2019 | 2008 | 2019-20 | 2008-20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 3.8% | 3.8% | 4.2% | no change | -0.4% |
| 2 | United States | 3.5% | 3.7% | 5.8% | -0.2% | -2.3% |
| 3 | India | 7.2% | 8.5% | n/a | -1.3% | n/a |
| 4 | Japan | 2.4% | 2.4% | 0.04 | no change | -1.6% |
| 5 | Germany | 3.3% | 3.2% | 7.4% | +0.1% | -4.1% |
| 6 | Russia | 4.8% | 4.6% | 6.2% | +0.1% | -1.5% |
| 7 | Indonesia | 0.05 | 5.2% | 8.4% | -0.2% | -3.4% |
| 8 | Brazil | 10.8% | 11.8% | 9.4% | -1% | +1.4% |
| 9 | United Kingdom | 3.8% | 3.8% | 5.7% | +0.03% | -1.9% |
| 10 | France | 8.4% | 8.6% | 7.5% | -0.2% | +1% |
| 11 | Mexico | 3.4% | 3.4% | 3.9% | no change | -0.4% |
| 12 | Italy | 10.3% | 10.3% | 6.7% | no change | +3.5% |
| 13 | Turkey | 13.7% | 13.8% | 0.1 | -0.1% | +3.7% |
| 14 | South Korea | 4.2% | 0.04 | 3.2% | +0.2% | +1% |
| 15 | Spain | 13.2% | 13.9% | 11.2% | -0.8% | +1.9% |
| 16 | Canada | 6% | 5.8% | 6.2% | +0.2% | -0.2% |
| 17 | Saudi Arabia | 5.8% | 5.5% | 5.2% | +0.3% | +0.6% |
| 18 | Iran | 17.4% | 16.8% | 10.4% | +0.7% | +7% |
| 19 | Egypt | 7.9% | 8.6% | 8.7% | -0.7% | -0.8% |
| 20 | Thailand | 1.2% | 1.2% | 1.4% | no change | -0.2% |
| 21 | Australia | 5.1% | 5.1% | 4.3% | no change | +0.9% |
| 22 | Taiwan | 3.8% | 3.8% | 4.1% | no change | -0.3% |
| 23 | Poland | 3.8% | 3.8% | 7.1% | no change | -3.4% |
| 24 | Nigeria | 27.8% | 27.4% | n/a | +0.4% | n/a |
| 25 | Pakistan | 6.2% | 6.1% | 5.2% | +0.1% | +1% |
Where 2008 country data was available, the richest countries for which the national unemployment rates rose the most in 2020 compared to 2008 when the Great Recession were Iran (up 7.1 percentage points), Turkey (up 3.7 percentage points), Italy (up 3.5 percentage points), Spain (up 1.9 percentage points) and Brazil (up 1.4 percentage points).
Strongest decreases in unemployment rates since 2008 belong to Germany (down -4.1 percentage points), Indonesia (down -3.4 percentage points, Poland (down -3.4 percentage points, United States (down -2.3 percentage points) and United Kingdom (down -1.9 percentage points).
Ratios of Employed Persons Age 15+ per Richest Country
To give some rough working-age perspective on the unemployment rates presented above, the following table compares a cohort of richest countries’ ratios of employment to each competitor’s total population. The focus is on the segment comprised of people age 15 years of age or over.
| Rank | Country | 2020 | 2019 | 2008 | 2019-20 | 2008-20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 65.2% | 65.7% | 68.6% | -0.5% | -3.4% |
| 2 | United States | 59.4% | 59.6% | 61.2% | -0.2% | -1.9% |
| 3 | India | 50.5% | 50.6% | 54.5% | -0.1% | -4% |
| 4 | Japan | 59.1% | 59.2% | 58.2% | -0.1% | +1% |
| 5 | Germany | 58.6% | 58.5% | 54.8% | +0.1% | +3.9% |
| 6 | Russia | 58.8% | 59.1% | 58.6% | -0.3% | +0.2% |
| 7 | Indonesia | 64.1% | 64.2% | 61.7% | -0.1% | +2.5% |
| 8 | Brazil | 56% | 55.9% | 60.9% | +0.1% | -4.9% |
| 9 | United Kingdom | 59.9% | 59.9% | 58.7% | +0.1% | +1.2% |
| 10 | France | 49.9% | 50% | 52.3% | -0.1% | -2.4% |
| 11 | Mexico | 59.1% | 59.1% | 59.2% | no change | -0.2% |
| 12 | Italy | 44.2% | 43.9% | 45.6% | +0.3% | -1.4% |
| 13 | Turkey | 46.2% | 46.8% | 41.3% | -0.6% | +4.9% |
| 14 | South Korea | 60.6% | 60.6% | 59.4% | no change | +1.2% |
| 15 | Spain | 48.6% | 48.5% | 52.2% | +0.1% | -3.6% |
| 16 | Canada | 61.1% | 61.4% | 63.1% | -0.3% | -2% |
| 17 | Saudi Arabia | 53.5% | 53.2% | 47.7% | +0.3% | +5.7% |
| 18 | Iran | 38.5% | 38.8% | 38.7% | -0.2% | -0.2% |
| 19 | Egypt | 42.7% | 42.6% | 43.9% | +0.1% | -1.2% |
| 20 | Thailand | 66.7% | 67.1% | 72.3% | -0.3% | -5.5% |
| 21 | Australia | 61.5% | 61.5% | 62.8% | -0.1% | -1.4% |
| 22 | Taiwan | 65.2% | 65.7% | 68.6% | -0.5% | -3.4% |
| 23 | Poland | 54.7% | 54.8% | 50.7% | -0.1% | +4% |
| 24 | Nigeria | 51.8% | 51.9% | 53% | -0.1% | -1.2% |
| 25 | Pakistan | 51.8% | 51.7% | 50.5% | +0.1% | +1.3% |
Please note that China’s statistics below integrate numbers for its Province of Taiwan, which is sometimes appears as a separate country in financial reports.
In 2020 the greatest ratios of employed people age 15 and over belong to Thailand (66.7%), China (65.2%), Indonesia (64.2%), Australia (61.5%), Canada (61.1%) and South Korea (60.6%).
Exhibiting smaller ratios are Iran (38.5%), Egypt (42.7%), Italy (44.2%), Turkey (46.2%) and Spain (48.6%).
See also Exchange Rates for Top 25 Richest Countries, Central Bank Interest Rates and Top 100 Richest Countries by GDP
Research Reference Materials:
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, FAQs: What are the Federal Reserve’s objectives in conducting monetary policy?. Accessed on February 17, 2020
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Country Comparison: Unemployment Rate. Accessed on February 17, 2020
International Monetary Fund, People Data: Unemployment rate, percent of total labor force. Accessed on February 17, 2020
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Unemployment rate data. Accessed on February 17, 2020
The Economist, Guide to Economic Indicators: Making Sense of Economics (7th Edition). Accessed on February 17, 2020
Trading Economics, Economic Indicators by Category: Unemployment Rate. Accessed on February 17, 2020
Wikipedia, List of countries by unemployment rate. Accessed on February 17, 2020
World Bank, Employment to population ratio, 15+, total (%). Accessed on February 17, 2020