United Kingdom
UK desk: United Kingdom first; euro area, United States, Canada, Australia, Korea, Taiwan and New Zealand alongside.
+0.49 pp
As of 2025 | % of male labour force
| Year | Value |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 5.06% |
| 2024 | 4.57% |
| 2023 | 4.33% |
| 2022 | 3.91% |
| 2021 | 5.08% |
| 2020 | 4.76% |
| 2019 | 3.83% |
| 2018 | 4.22% |
| 2017 | 4.62% |
| 2016 | 5.04% |
| 2015 | 5.71% |
| 2014 | 6.69% |
| 2013 | 8.27% |
| 2012 | 8.81% |
| 2011 | 8.82% |
| 2010 | 8.79% |
| 2009 | 8.67% |
| 2008 | 6.22% |
| 2007 | 5.66% |
| 2006 | 5.83% |
| 2005 | 5.29% |
| 2004 | 4.94% |
| 2003 | 5.43% |
| 2002 | 5.61% |
Male unemployment is ILO modelled unemployment among men in the male labour force (SL.UEM.TOTL.MA.ZS). Latest: 5.06% in 2025.
Read it next to the female series. From 1991 to 2025 (35 years): mean 6.80%, median 5.83%; low 3.83% (2019), high 12.41% (1993).
Source: World Bank Open Data. Licence: CC BY 4.0 (terms).
This series is the unemployment rate for men: men without work who are available for and actively seeking it, as a share of the male labour force. The source is World Bank Open Data indicator SL.UEM.TOTL.MA.ZS, an ILO modelled estimate that uses the same definition as the all-ages rate. It measures joblessness among men who are in the labour market, not the share of men who work. The gap with the female series can reflect joblessness, but it can also reflect differences in participation, because men 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 two sex series together, and check participation, before drawing a conclusion. The values are modelled estimates built from national surveys and censuses and revised as inputs change, so treat small cross-country gaps with caution.
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.