Ireland

Ireland — Female

IE desk: Ireland first; euro area, United Kingdom and United States alongside.

4.53%

+0.23 pp

As of 2025 | % of female labour force

Mean
7.99%
Median
6.29%
Min
3.55% 2001
Max
16.59% 1991
YearValue
20254.53%
20244.30%
20234.22%
20224.64%
20216.37%
20205.65%
20194.68%
20185.69%
20176.29%
20167.60%
20158.91%
201410.88%
201312.42%
201212.75%
201112.50%
201011.41%
20099.51%
20085.70%
20074.93%
20064.10%
20053.80%
20043.83%
20034.01%
20023.75%
#CountryFemaleChangeYear
66France7.54%+0.29 pp202578Euro area6.63%+0.03 pp2025113Ireland4.53%+0.23 pp2025115United Kingdom4.41%+0.27 pp2025122United States4.18%+0.27 pp2025142Germany3.41%+0.28 pp2025

What female unemployment is

Female unemployment is ILO modelled unemployment among women in the female labour force (SL.UEM.TOTL.FE.ZS). Latest: 4.53% in 2025.

Compare it with the male series on this site; a gap can reflect both joblessness and who is counted in the labour force. From 1991 to 2025 (35 years): mean 7.99%, median 6.29%; low 3.55% (2001), high 16.59% (1991).

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.

About this desk

The Ireland desk places Ireland first and shows the euro area, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and France alongside it, as far as each source publishes them. It republishes the same World Bank ILO modelled estimates as the all-countries pages, filtered to this desk; the build does not recompute anything. Taiwan is shown only on the headline unemployment page, where the rate is filled from the IMF World Economic Outlook because the World Bank does not publish it.

Move between desks with the Country selector, read the same numbers through the Chart and Table tabs, and shorten the period with the range buttons. Every page prints its indicator, source and licence. Ireland’s figures are national series in the World Bank collection, separate from the euro-area aggregate shown beside them. Where the source does not publish an Irish value, the related economies are shown.