Where the UK stands · OECD · each country's latest reported year
How does the UK's unemployment rate compare with other countries?
United Kingdom: 4.5% % of the labour force, aged 15 to 64, 20th of 51 (2025).
Unemployment rate: every country in the OECD's table with a figure within three years of the newest year published; each country's newest year is used and named on the row, lowest first. 51 rows. Equal figures share a rank and are printed as ties; the order within a tie is alphabetical and means nothing. The highlighted row is United Kingdom, 20th of 51.
| # | Name | % of the labour force, aged 15 to 64 | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thailand | 0.8% | 2024 |
| 2 | Japan | 2.6% | 2025 |
| 3 | Mexico | 2.8% | 2025 |
| 4 | Korea | 2.8% | 2025 |
| 5 | Czechia | 2.9% | 2025 |
| 6 | Israel | 3.1% | 2025 |
| 7 | Malta | 3.1% | 2025 |
| 8 | Poland | 3.2% | 2025 |
| 9 | Bulgaria | 3.6% | 2025 |
| 10 | Ireland | 3.8% | 2025 |
| 11 | Slovenia | 3.8% | 2025 |
| 12 | Netherlands | 3.9% | 2025 |
| 13 | Germany | 3.9% | 2025 |
| 14 | Russia | 4.0% | 2022 |
| 15 | Australia | 4.3% | 2025 |
| 16 | United States | 4.4% | 2025 |
| 17 | Iceland | 4.4% | 2025 |
| 18 | Cyprus | 4.4% | 2025 |
| 19 | Hungary | 4.5% | 2025 |
| 20 | United Kingdom | 4.5% | 2025 |
| 21 | Norway | 4.6% | 2025 |
| 22 | Croatia | 4.9% | 2025 |
| 23 | Switzerland | 5.0% | 2025 |
| 24 | India | 5.4% | 2025 |
| 25 | Slovak Republic | 5.5% | 2025 |
| 26 | New Zealand | 5.5% | 2025 |
| 27 | Austria | 5.7% | 2025 |
| 28 | Peru | 5.7% | 2024 |
| 29 | Argentina | 5.8% | 2023 |
| 30 | Romania | 6.1% | 2025 |
| 31 | Portugal | 6.2% | 2025 |
| 32 | Belgium | 6.2% | 2025 |
| 33 | Italy | 6.3% | 2025 |
| 34 | Denmark | 6.4% | 2025 |
| 35 | Luxembourg | 6.5% | 2025 |
| 36 | Brazil | 6.8% | 2024 |
| 37 | Costa Rica | 6.9% | 2025 |
| 38 | Canada | 7.0% | 2025 |
| 39 | Lithuania | 7.1% | 2025 |
| 40 | Latvia | 7.3% | 2025 |
| 41 | Estonia | 7.7% | 2025 |
| 42 | France | 7.7% | 2025 |
| 43 | Türkiye | 8.5% | 2025 |
| 44 | Chile | 8.8% | 2025 |
| 45 | Greece | 8.9% | 2025 |
| 46 | Sweden | 9.0% | 2025 |
| 47 | Colombia | 9.2% | 2025 |
| 48 | Finland | 9.8% | 2025 |
| 49 | Spain | 10.6% | 2025 |
| 50 | North Macedonia | 11.7% | 2025 |
| 51 | South Africa | 32.4% | 2025 |
What this table establishes
The table establishes the unemployment rate for the year shown.
It does not establish why countries differ, what any country should spend or provide, or that a rank is a judgement on a health or economic system.
How it is made
Each row is the figure the publisher printed, in % of the labour force, aged 15 to 64. Rows are ordered lowest first; nothing is estimated, weighted or adjusted by Civometry.
The International Labour Organization definition: without work, available and actively looking, as a share of the labour force. It does not count people outside the labour force.
Source: OECD, OECD Labour Force Statistics · OECD terms and conditions (free reuse with attribution). Period: each country's latest reported year. The rank is Civometry’s ordering of published figures, not a judgement on anyone in the table.
United Kingdom: 4.5% % of the labour force, aged 15 to 64, 20th of 51 (2025).