Unemployment

Female unemployment (% of female labour force)

Every published economy, ranked by the latest year. Click a country in the list or the chart legend to show or hide it. Country desks cover a smaller set.

YearValue
202534.00%
202434.44%
202334.56%
202235.38%
202136.30%
202031.00%
201930.48%
201829.01%
201729.22%
201628.95%
201527.49%
201426.98%
201326.49%
201227.01%
201127.15%
201026.94%
200925.50%
200825.68%
200725.52%
200625.57%
200525.77%
200425.89%
200326.03%
200225.94%
#CountryFemaleChangeYear
1West Bank and Gaza40.00%−2.51 pp2022
2Eswatini36.03%−1.00 pp2025
3Djibouti35.43%−0.10 pp2025
4South Africa34.00%−0.44 pp2025
5Yemen, Rep.30.34%+0.89 pp2025
6Iraq30.09%+0.44 pp2025
7Gabon28.58%−0.07 pp2025
8Botswana27.88%+0.32 pp2025
9Syrian Arab Republic26.08%+0.76 pp2025
10Libya25.19%−0.18 pp2025
11Afghanistan25.00%−1.09 pp2025
12Somalia, Fed. Rep.24.58%−0.06 pp2025
13Jordan23.34%+0.20 pp2025
14Congo, Rep.21.12%−0.12 pp2025
15Algeria20.65%−0.41 pp2025
16Tunisia20.41%−0.30 pp2025
17Lesotho18.45%−0.12 pp2025
18Namibia18.40%+0.45 pp2025
19Haiti18.03%+0.21 pp2025
20St. Vincent and the Grenadines15.97%−0.23 pp2025
21Iran, Islamic Rep.15.59%+0.48 pp2025
22Egypt, Arab Rep.15.31%+0.03 pp2025
23Mauritania14.74%−0.15 pp2025
24Lebanon14.48%−0.11 pp2023
25Angola14.26%−0.05 pp2025
26Montenegro14.24%+0.02 pp2025
27Sudan14.01%−5.82 pp2022
28Armenia13.76%+0.60 pp2025
29South Sudan13.59%−0.10 pp2023
30Belize13.46%+0.02 pp2025
31Guyana13.44%+0.21 pp2025
32Bosnia and Herzegovina13.26%+0.45 pp2025
33Rwanda12.83%−0.46 pp2025
34French Polynesia12.54%−0.07 pp2025
35Virgin Islands (U.S.)12.22%+0.04 pp2025
36New Caledonia12.08%+0.38 pp2025
37Spain11.94%−0.79 pp2025
38Nepal11.82%−0.17 pp2025
39Turkiye11.65%−0.28 pp2025
40Cabo Verde11.39%+0.07 pp2025
41Greece11.33%−1.31 pp2025
42Albania11.18%+0.20 pp2025
43Oman11.14%−0.29 pp2025
44North Macedonia11.12%+0.14 pp2025
45Suriname10.84%+0.16 pp2025
46St. Lucia10.73%−0.44 pp2025
47Georgia10.66%+0.47 pp2025
48Morocco10.63%−0.13 pp2025
49Colombia10.51%−1.40 pp2025
50Panama10.42%−0.75 pp2025
51Ukraine10.15%+1.08 pp2021
52Saudi Arabia9.69%−1.18 pp2025
53Chile9.62%+0.12 pp2025
54Zimbabwe9.37%−0.23 pp2025
55Equatorial Guinea9.29%−0.06 pp2025
56Sao Tome and Principe9.28%+0.10 pp2025
57Bahamas, The9.16%+0.58 pp2025
58Finland8.87%+1.29 pp2025
59Uruguay8.65%−0.75 pp2025
60Sweden8.60%+0.10 pp2025
61Argentina8.14%+0.22 pp2025
62Estonia8.03%+0.48 pp2025
63Costa Rica7.79%+0.01 pp2025
64Dominican Republic7.70%−0.51 pp2025
65Mauritius7.62%+0.16 pp2025
66France7.54%+0.29 pp2025
67Serbia7.50%+0.06 pp2025
68Brazil7.33%−1.05 pp2025
69Italy7.32%+0.02 pp2025
70Samoa7.29%−0.18 pp2025
71Mozambique7.17%−0.16 pp2025
72Central African Republic7.00%−0.03 pp2025
73Barbados6.96%+0.15 pp2025
74Pakistan6.94%−0.40 pp2025
75Fiji6.87%−0.18 pp2025
76Kenya6.74%−0.18 pp2025
77Eritrea6.72%+0.01 pp2025
78Euro area6.63%+0.03 pp2025
79Uzbekistan6.63%+0.07 pp2025
80Canada6.56%+0.55 pp2025
81Portugal6.53%−0.37 pp2025
82Sri Lanka6.48%−0.33 pp2025
83Luxembourg6.47%+0.23 pp2025
84Channel Islands6.46%+0.25 pp2025
85Honduras6.40%−0.10 pp2025
86Lithuania6.35%−0.03 pp2025
87Azerbaijan6.26%−0.25 pp2025
88Vanuatu6.24%−0.03 pp2025
89Zambia6.16%+0.08 pp2025
90Gambia, The6.12%+0.34 pp2025
91Paraguay6.10%−1.28 pp2025
92Kuwait6.02%−0.06 pp2025
93Malawi6.01%+0.01 pp2025
94Venezuela, RB5.83%−0.01 pp2025
95Peru5.78%−0.34 pp2025
96Slovak Republic5.77%−0.11 pp2025
97Denmark5.72%+0.18 pp2025
98Belgium5.63%+0.36 pp2025
99Romania5.56%+0.51 pp2025
100Latvia5.52%−0.28 pp2025
101Kazakhstan5.46%−0.01 pp2025
102Cyprus5.46%+0.28 pp2025
103Guam5.39%+0.42 pp2025
104New Zealand5.28%+0.36 pp2025
105Brunei Darussalam5.27%+0.06 pp2025
106Austria5.17%+0.45 pp2025
107Nicaragua5.16%+0.07 pp2025
108Croatia5.13%+0.13 pp2025
109Puerto Rico (US)5.07%+0.44 pp2025
110Switzerland5.04%+0.48 pp2025
111Guinea5.04%−0.17 pp2025
112Ethiopia4.53%−0.12 pp2025
113Ireland4.53%+0.23 pp2025
114Mongolia4.50%+0.17 pp2025
115United Kingdom4.41%+0.27 pp2025
116Comoros4.40%−0.07 pp2025
117Hungary4.40%+0.00 pp2025
118Norway4.34%+0.56 pp2025
119Jamaica4.29%+0.20 pp2025
120Burkina Faso4.26%−0.16 pp2025
121United Arab Emirates4.18%−0.16 pp2025
122United States4.18%+0.27 pp2025
123Cameroon4.14%−0.03 pp2025
124India4.14%+0.05 pp2025
125Ecuador4.10%−0.26 pp2025
126Bhutan4.09%−0.03 pp2025
127Netherlands4.08%+0.22 pp2025
128Maldives4.08%+0.44 pp2025
129Australia4.05%+0.22 pp2025
130China4.00%+0.01 pp2025
131Kyrgyz Republic4.00%−0.19 pp2025
132Tajikistan4.00%−0.11 pp2025
133Nigeria3.88%−0.19 pp2025
134Trinidad and Tobago3.88%+0.04 pp2025
135Malaysia3.86%−0.16 pp2025
136Bangladesh3.67%+0.23 pp2025
137Korea, Dem. People's Rep.3.65%−0.00 pp2025
138Bahrain3.63%−0.04 pp2025
139El Salvador3.57%−0.07 pp2025
140Congo, Dem. Rep.3.54%−0.05 pp2025
141Myanmar3.54%+0.01 pp2025
142Germany3.41%+0.28 pp2025
143Slovenia3.40%−0.57 pp2025
144Israel3.37%−0.04 pp2025
145Iceland3.35%+0.02 pp2025
146Madagascar3.31%−0.00 pp2025
147Czechia3.31%+0.33 pp2025
148Bolivia3.31%−0.37 pp2025
149Uganda3.29%−0.03 pp2025
150Bulgaria3.29%−0.64 pp2025
151Guatemala3.26%−0.06 pp2025
152Ghana3.22%+0.11 pp2025
153Poland3.15%+0.15 pp2025
154Senegal3.11%−0.22 pp2025
155Indonesia3.01%−0.06 pp2025
156Mali3.01%−0.06 pp2025
157Singapore2.87%+0.17 pp2025
158Malta2.83%−0.16 pp2025
159Mexico2.73%+0.03 pp2025
160Korea, Rep.2.69%−0.13 pp2025
161Belarus2.68%−0.09 pp2025
162Cote d'Ivoire2.62%+0.09 pp2025
163Tonga2.54%+0.07 pp2025
164Turkmenistan2.48%+0.09 pp2025
165Philippines2.48%−0.01 pp2025
166Japan2.30%−0.04 pp2025
167Hong Kong SAR, China2.27%−0.10 pp2025
168Tanzania2.22%+0.02 pp2025
169Liberia2.22%−0.03 pp2025
170Russian Federation2.21%−0.31 pp2025
171Sierra Leone2.10%+0.00 pp2025
172Papua New Guinea2.09%−0.05 pp2025
173Macao SAR, China2.05%+0.06 pp2025
174Togo2.03%−0.07 pp2025
175Guinea-Bissau1.91%+0.08 pp2025
176Cuba1.89%+0.00 pp2025
177Timor-Leste1.63%+0.09 pp2025
178Solomon Islands1.42%−0.08 pp2025
179Benin1.38%−0.06 pp2025
180Viet Nam1.36%−0.11 pp2025
181Moldova1.23%−0.01 pp2025
182Lao PDR0.91%+0.05 pp2025
183Thailand0.81%−0.01 pp2025
184Burundi0.81%−0.00 pp2025
185Chad0.69%−0.04 pp2025
186Qatar0.39%+0.01 pp2025
187Niger0.30%+0.03 pp2025
188Cambodia0.23%+0.03 pp2025

What female unemployment is

Female unemployment (SL.UEM.TOTL.FE.ZS, ILO modelled). Ranked by each economy’s latest published year.

Source: World Bank Open Data. Licence: CC BY 4.0 (terms).

Reading this series

This series is the unemployment rate for women: women without work who are available for and actively seeking it, as a share of the female labour force. The source is World Bank Open Data indicator SL.UEM.TOTL.FE.ZS, an ILO modelled estimate that uses the same definition as the all-ages rate. It says nothing about how many women work; it describes joblessness among women who are in the labour market. The gap with the male series can reflect joblessness, but it can also reflect differences in participation, because people outside the labour force are not counted as unemployed.

The chart plots annual observations for the economies you select; the range buttons shorten the period and the legend or table adds and removes lines. The ranked ledger shows each economy’s latest published year, and those years differ. Read the female and male series together, and check participation, before drawing a conclusion about labour-market conditions. The values are modelled estimates built from national surveys and censuses and revised as inputs change.