Countries with the Highest Unemployment Rate 2022

About This Dataset

Countries ranked by unemployment (% of labour force) in 2022, using World Bank figures for the 186 countries that reported that year. Eswatini leads on 36.47, ahead of South Africa (33.27) and Djibouti (26.27). The share of the labour force without work but available for and seeking work, modelled by the ILO. People who have stopped looking are not counted as unemployed, so a country with little formal employment can post a low rate.

Analysis

Eswatini (36.47), South Africa (33.27) and Djibouti (26.27) take the top three. Across the twenty shown, values run from 36.47 down to 14.54, a spread of 21.93. Only 3.20 separates Eswatini from South Africa in second, 8.8% of the leading figure. 11 of the 20 reach half the leading figure, 18.24 or more. Eswatini stood at 34.15 in 2021, so its figure rose by 2.32 over the year. Eswatini also came first in 2021. Of the 20 in this table that also reported in 2021, 2 recorded a higher figure than the year before and 18 a lower one. The largest single move was Saint Lucia, from 20.51 to 15.93. The chart shows the twenty highest of 186 reporting countries, so it describes the top of the distribution rather than the world average.

Source: World Bank

Key Findings

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Eswatini leads in Unemployment (% of Labour Force) with 36.47 in 2022.

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Average Unemployment (% of Labour Force) in 2022: 20 · median: 19.

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Gap in 2022: Eswatini is 2.5× larger than Haiti.