United Kingdom
UK desk: United Kingdom first; euro area, United States, Canada, Australia, Korea, Taiwan and New Zealand alongside.
+0.27 pp
As of 2025 | % of female labour force
| Year | Value |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 4.41% |
| 2024 | 4.13% |
| 2023 | 3.68% |
| 2022 | 3.61% |
| 2021 | 4.63% |
| 2020 | 4.16% |
| 2019 | 3.46% |
| 2018 | 4.07% |
| 2017 | 4.36% |
| 2016 | 4.76% |
| 2015 | 5.38% |
| 2014 | 6.06% |
| 2013 | 7.16% |
| 2012 | 7.67% |
| 2011 | 7.47% |
| 2010 | 7.03% |
| 2009 | 6.54% |
| 2008 | 5.20% |
| 2007 | 5.09% |
| 2006 | 5.05% |
| 2005 | 4.41% |
| 2004 | 4.19% |
| 2003 | 4.07% |
| 2002 | 4.37% |
Female unemployment is ILO modelled unemployment among women in the female labour force (SL.UEM.TOTL.FE.ZS). Latest: 4.41% 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 5.42%, median 5.09%; low 3.46% (2019), high 7.77% (1993).
Source: World Bank Open Data. Licence: CC BY 4.0 (terms).
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.
The UK desk places the United Kingdom first and shows the euro area, the United States, Germany, France, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand alongside, where the source covers them. It republishes the same World Bank ILO modelled estimates as the all-countries pages, filtered to this set, and does not recalculate the values for the desk. Taiwan is included only on the headline unemployment page, which uses the IMF World Economic Outlook because the World Bank does not publish a Taiwanese rate.
Move between desks with the Country selector, read the same numbers through the Chart and Table tabs, and use the range buttons to shorten the window. The indicator code, source and licence are printed on each page so a figure can be checked directly. An economy missing from a series is not covered by the source for that indicator.