Jobs gap rate by country
With the aim of promoting international comparability, statistics presented on ILOSTAT are based on standard international definitions wherever feasible and may differ from official national figures. This series is based on the 13th ICLS definitions. For time series comparability, it includes countries that have...
What the numbers show
Jobs gap rate is currently reported for 70 countries. The highest value is 42.5 in Senegal; the lowest is 1.8 in Viet Nam.
The median across all reporting countries is 11.15, and the mean is 12.68.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 24.
Over the past decade 12 countries rose and 53 fell. The largest increase was in Rwanda (up 512.0%), and the largest decrease in Albania (down 66.4%).
Jobs gap rate: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Senegal | 42.5 | 2024 | up 6.0% | rising |
| 2 | South Africa | 41.9 | 2024 | up 19.4% | rising |
| 3 | Kosovo | 34.8 | 2024 | down 40.8% | falling |
| 4 | Palestine, State of | 30.7 | 2025 | down 2.5% | flat |
| 5 | Armenia | 28.7 | 2017 | up 49.5% | rising |
| 6 | Angola | 27.1 | 2025 | down 8.4% | falling |
| 7 | Guatemala | 23.4 | 2025 | up 160.0% | rising |
| 8 | Zimbabwe | 22.5 | 2024 | up 1.4% | falling |
| 9 | Chile | 21.6 | 2025 | down 30.5% | falling |
| 10 | Jordan | 20.2 | 2024 | down 17.6% | falling |
| 11 | Georgia | 19 | 2025 | up 1.1% | falling |
| 12 | North Macedonia | 17.7 | 2025 | down 43.8% | falling |
| 13 | Guyana | 17.2 | 2024 | down 40.7% | falling |
| 14 | Spain | 15.3 | 2025 | down 42.7% | rising |
| 14 | Italy | 15.3 | 2024 | down 39.3% | rising |
| 14 | Rwanda | 15.3 | 2025 | up 512.0% | rising |
| 17 | Sweden | 14.7 | 2024 | up 20.5% | rising |
| 18 | Finland | 14.5 | 2024 | down 7.1% | falling |
| 19 | Luxembourg | 14 | 2024 | down 6.7% | rising |
| 20 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 13.9 | 2025 | down 64.2% | falling |
| 20 | Colombia | 13.9 | 2025 | down 26.1% | falling |
| 22 | Estonia | 13.6 | 2024 | down 1.4% | falling |
| 23 | Switzerland | 13.3 | 2025 | — | volatile |
| 24 | Netherlands | 13 | 2024 | down 7.8% | rising |
| 25 | Brazil | 12.8 | 2025 | down 12.3% | rising |
| 25 | Kyrgyzstan | 12.8 | 2023 | down 44.6% | falling |
| 27 | France | 12.6 | 2024 | down 12.5% | rising |
| 28 | Austria | 12.3 | 2025 | down 18.0% | rising |
| 29 | Greece | 12 | 2025 | down 57.3% | rising |
| 30 | Honduras | 11.9 | 2025 | down 65.8% | falling |
| 31 | Ireland | 11.7 | 2024 | down 26.9% | rising |
| 32 | Albania | 11.5 | 2024 | down 66.4% | falling |
| 32 | Denmark | 11.5 | 2024 | down 14.8% | rising |
| 34 | Latvia | 11.3 | 2024 | down 38.6% | falling |
| 34 | Uruguay | 11.3 | 2025 | — | falling |
| 36 | Serbia | 11 | 2025 | down 62.3% | falling |
| 37 | Norway | 10.6 | 2024 | up 30.9% | rising |
| 38 | Mongolia | 10.5 | 2025 | down 31.4% | falling |
| 39 | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 10.3 | 2025 | down 14.2% | falling |
| 40 | Saint Lucia | 9.6 | 2025 | down 56.4% | falling |
| 41 | Lithuania | 9.5 | 2024 | down 26.4% | falling |
| 42 | Portugal | 9.4 | 2024 | down 53.7% | rising |
| 43 | Belgium | 9.3 | 2024 | down 28.5% | falling |
| 43 | Germany | 9.3 | 2024 | up 1.1% | falling |
| 45 | Canada | 9.1 | 2025 | down 4.2% | falling |
| 46 | Croatia | 8.5 | 2024 | — | falling |
| 47 | Iceland | 8.4 | 2023 | down 27.0% | rising |
| 48 | Romania | 8.2 | 2024 | down 37.9% | falling |
| 49 | Slovakia | 7.9 | 2023 | down 54.9% | falling |
| 50 | Brunei Darussalam | 7.8 | 2024 | down 52.1% | falling |
| 51 | Mali | 7.5 | 2024 | down 22.7% | falling |
| 52 | Cyprus | 7.4 | 2024 | down 65.4% | rising |
| 53 | Bulgaria | 7.2 | 2024 | down 60.4% | falling |
| 54 | Belarus | 7 | 2024 | down 40.2% | falling |
| 54 | Barbados | 7 | 2024 | down 38.1% | falling |
| 56 | Mauritius | 6.8 | 2024 | down 28.4% | falling |
| 57 | El Salvador | 6.7 | 2025 | down 26.4% | falling |
| 58 | Hungary | 6.6 | 2024 | down 53.5% | falling |
| 59 | Russian Federation | 6.1 | 2025 | down 40.8% | falling |
| 60 | Poland | 6 | 2024 | down 65.1% | falling |
| 60 | Singapore | 6 | 2025 | — | falling |
| 62 | Slovenia | 5.8 | 2024 | down 65.5% | falling |
| 63 | United States of America | 5.7 | 2025 | down 16.2% | falling |
| 64 | Seychelles | 5.3 | 2025 | down 10.2% | falling |
| 65 | Philippines | 5.1 | 2023 | down 32.9% | falling |
| 66 | Malta | 4.8 | 2024 | down 64.7% | falling |
| 67 | Czechia | 4.5 | 2024 | down 47.7% | falling |
| 68 | Myanmar | 2.8 | 2020 | up 7.7% | falling |
| 69 | Republic of Moldova | 2.6 | 2025 | up 18.2% | volatile |
| 70 | Viet Nam | 1.8 | 2024 | — | falling |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- Southern Africa 41.9
- Sub-Saharan Africa: Upper-middle income 41
- Africa: Upper-middle income 34.9
- Arab States: Low income 31.1
- CARICOM 24.9
- Arab States: Lower-middle income 23.7
- Northern Africa: Upper-middle income 23
- Americas: Lower-middle income 19.8
- Latin America and the Caribbean: Lower-middle income 19.8
- Arab League 19
- Arab States 18.6
- Northern Africa 18.5
- MENA 18.4
- Southern Asia: Upper-middle income 18
- Caribbean 17.6
- Latin America and the Caribbean: High income 17.5
- Central Africa 16.9
- Northern Africa: Lower-middle income 16.8
- Asia and the Pacific: Low income 16.3
- Africa 15
- Western Asia 14.6
- Sub-Saharan Africa 14.5
- World: Low income 14.5
- Europe and Central Asia: Upper-middle income 14
- Eastern Europe: Upper-middle income 14
- Central and Western Asia: Upper-middle income 14
- Southern Europe 13.7
- Northern, Southern and Western Europe: Upper-middle income 13.5
- Eastern Africa 13.4
- Africa: Lower-middle income 13.4
- Africa: Low income 13.2
- South America 13
- World: Upper-middle income excluding China 13
- Sub-Saharan Africa: Low income 12.9
- Sub-Saharan Africa: Lower-middle income 12.8
- Latin America and the Caribbean 12.7
- Central and Western Asia 12.6
- Northern, Southern and Western Europe 12
- Northern, Southern and Western Europe: High income 12
- Americas: Upper-middle income 11.8
About this data
With the aim of promoting international comparability, statistics presented on ILOSTAT are based on standard international definitions wherever feasible and may differ from official national figures. This series is based on the 13th ICLS definitions. For time series comparability, it includes countries that have implemented the 19th ICLS standards, for which data are also available in the Work Statistics -- 19th ICLS (WORK) database. The jobs gap rate is defined as the sum of the unemployed, the potential labour force and willing non-jobseekers divided by the sum of the extended labour force and willing non-jobseekers. For more information, refer to the Labour Force Statistics (LFS and STLFS) database description.