Unemployment — country comparison
ILO-modelled unemployment as a share of the total labour force.
The numeric position is not automatically a good-to-bad ranking. For measures such as inflation and unemployment, interpretation depends on the period, direction and wider conditions.
UK numeric position
5 of 10
Highest value first among the selected countriesSource
Definition
| Numeric position | Country | Latest value | Observation year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sweden | 8.69 % | 2025 |
| 2 | France | 7.54 % | 2025 |
| 3 | Canada | 6.91 % | 2025 |
| 4 | Italy | 6.39 % | 2025 |
| 5 | United Kingdom | 4.75 % | 2025 |
| 6 | United States | 4.20 % | 2025 |
| 7 | Australia | 4.09 % | 2025 |
| 8 | Netherlands | 3.87 % | 2025 |
| 9 | Germany | 3.71 % | 2025 |
| 10 | Japan | 2.45 % | 2025 |
Useful reading
This gives every selected country the same published World Bank definition and makes the UK’s relative position easy to inspect.
Important limitation
The latest available observation year can differ by country. The year is shown beside every value and the source may later revise it.