Time-related underemployment rate (previous ILO definition - ICLS13) 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
Time-related underemployment rate (previous ILO definition - ICLS13) is currently reported for 48 countries. The highest value is 18.86 in Rwanda; the lowest is 0.11 in Mongolia.
The median across all reporting countries is 1.24, and the mean is 2.44.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 171.
Over the past decade 8 countries rose and 39 fell. The largest increase was in Zimbabwe (up 17,606.9%), and the largest decrease in Serbia (down 94.0%).
Time-related underemployment rate: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rwanda | 18.86 | 2025 | down 48.2% | falling |
| 2 | Costa Rica | 10.84 | 2025 | down 19.3% | falling |
| 3 | Botswana | 6.5 | 2024 | down 11.6% | flat |
| 4 | Ghana | 6.22 | 2024 | up 4,580.4% | rising |
| 5 | Peru | 6 | 2025 | up 58.1% | rising |
| 6 | Indonesia | 5.26 | 2023 | up 38.6% | rising |
| 7 | Zimbabwe | 5.13 | 2024 | up 17,606.9% | volatile |
| 8 | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 5.07 | 2025 | down 21.1% | falling |
| 9 | Italy | 3.98 | 2023 | down 16.0% | rising |
| 10 | Spain | 3.84 | 2023 | down 40.8% | rising |
| 11 | Ireland | 3.49 | 2020 | down 58.6% | volatile |
| 12 | Greece | 3.19 | 2023 | down 53.7% | rising |
| 13 | Zambia | 3.05 | 2024 | down 21.0% | falling |
| 14 | France | 2.65 | 2023 | down 20.3% | flat |
| 15 | Bolivia, Plurinational State of | 2.27 | 2019 | down 35.3% | falling |
| 16 | Switzerland | 2.17 | 2023 | up 20.0% | rising |
| 17 | Sri Lanka | 2.04 | 2024 | down 18.6% | rising |
| 18 | Seychelles | 2 | 2025 | up 13.5% | rising |
| 19 | Palestine, State of | 1.94 | 2022 | — | flat |
| 20 | Belgium | 1.91 | 2023 | down 50.8% | falling |
| 21 | Cambodia | 1.85 | 2025 | up 238.4% | volatile |
| 22 | Cyprus | 1.67 | 2023 | down 74.9% | volatile |
| 23 | Bulgaria | 1.37 | 2023 | down 34.4% | flat |
| 24 | Portugal | 1.33 | 2023 | down 66.3% | flat |
| 25 | Senegal | 1.15 | 2024 | down 0.5% | falling |
| 26 | Norway | 1.06 | 2023 | down 2.4% | falling |
| 27 | Finland | 0.992 | 2023 | down 5.5% | rising |
| 28 | Estonia | 0.892 | 2023 | down 50.1% | volatile |
| 29 | Latvia | 0.87 | 2023 | down 69.6% | falling |
| 30 | United States of America | 0.791 | 2025 | down 5.3% | falling |
| 31 | Republic of Moldova | 0.787 | 2025 | down 54.5% | falling |
| 32 | Luxembourg | 0.768 | 2023 | down 70.8% | falling |
| 33 | Croatia | 0.763 | 2020 | up 110.8% | rising |
| 34 | Austria | 0.72 | 2023 | down 57.8% | flat |
| 35 | Hungary | 0.687 | 2023 | down 3.6% | falling |
| 36 | Lithuania | 0.633 | 2023 | down 64.4% | falling |
| 37 | Slovakia | 0.583 | 2023 | down 22.6% | falling |
| 38 | Denmark | 0.557 | 2020 | down 23.8% | falling |
| 39 | Sweden | 0.49 | 2023 | down 58.2% | falling |
| 40 | Iceland | 0.459 | 2020 | down 59.0% | flat |
| 41 | Germany | 0.42 | 2020 | down 84.6% | falling |
| 42 | Poland | 0.399 | 2023 | down 76.8% | falling |
| 43 | Slovenia | 0.341 | 2023 | down 59.2% | volatile |
| 44 | Romania | 0.255 | 2023 | down 72.5% | falling |
| 45 | Czechia | 0.253 | 2023 | down 54.1% | falling |
| 46 | Netherlands | 0.202 | 2023 | down 93.0% | volatile |
| 47 | Serbia | 0.132 | 2023 | down 94.0% | volatile |
| 48 | Mongolia | 0.11 | 2025 | down 83.8% | falling |
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 time-related underemployment rate conveys the number of persons in time-related underemployment as a percent of the total number of persons in employment. Persons in time-related underemployment comprise all persons in employment, who satisfy the following three criteria during the reference period: a) are willing to work additional hours; b) are available to work additional hours i.e., are ready, within a specified subsequent period, to work additional hours, given opportunities for additional work; and c) worked less than a threshold relating to working time i.e., persons whose hours actually worked in all jobs during the reference period were below a threshold, to be chosen according to national circumstances. The term disability, as defined in the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF), is used as an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. For measurement purposes, a person with disability is defined as a person who is limited in the kind or amount of activities that he or she can do because of ongoing difficulties due to a long-term physical condition, mental condition or health problem. For more information, refer to the Disability Labour Market Indicators (DLMI) database description.