Economy · Africa ranking
Unemployment Rate by African country
Share of the labor force that is unemployed. Latest reported value for 54 of 54 countries, ranked. Every row links to the full national series with history and sources.
Full ranking
| # | Country | Unemployment Rate | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Djibouti | 38.8% | 2025 |
| 2 | Eswatini | 34.2% | 2025 |
| 3 | South Africa | 32.4% | 2025 |
| 4 | Botswana | 24.5% | 2025 |
| 5 | Gabon | 20.2% | 2025 |
| 6 | Republic of the Congo | 19.9% | 2025 |
| 7 | Namibia | 19.3% | 2025 |
| 8 | Somalia | 18.9% | 2025 |
| 9 | Libya | 18.8% | 2025 |
| 10 | Lesotho | 16.3% | 2025 |
| 11 | Tunisia | 15.1% | 2025 |
| 12 | South Sudan | 12.4% | 2023 |
| 13 | Cabo Verde | 11.9% | 2025 |
| 14 | Algeria | 11.6% | 2025 |
| 15 | Angola | 10.4% | 2025 |
| 16 | Mauritania | 10.3% | 2025 |
| 17 | Zimbabwe | 9.3% | 2025 |
| 18 | Sao Tome and Principe | 9.1% | 2025 |
| 19 | Morocco | 9% | 2025 |
| 20 | Equatorial Guinea | 8.3% | 2025 |
| 21 | Sudan | 7.5% | 2022 |
| 22 | Gambia | 7.1% | 2025 |
| 23 | Egypt | 6.8% | 2025 |
| 24 | Mozambique | 6.6% | 2025 |
| 25 | Central African Republic | 6.3% | 2025 |
| 26 | Eritrea | 6% | 2025 |
| 27 | Zambia | 5.9% | 2025 |
| 28 | Mauritius | 5.6% | 2025 |
| 29 | Kenya | 5.4% | 2025 |
| 30 | Rwanda | 5.4% | 2025 |
| 31 | Guinea | 5.2% | 2025 |
| 32 | Malawi | 5.1% | 2025 |
| 33 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 4.4% | 2025 |
| 34 | Comoros | 3.8% | 2025 |
| 35 | Cameroon | 3.6% | 2025 |
| 36 | Burkina Faso | 3.5% | 2025 |
| 37 | Ethiopia | 3.3% | 2025 |
| 38 | Sierra Leone | 3.2% | 2025 |
| 39 | Nigeria | 3.1% | 2025 |
| 40 | Madagascar | 3% | 2025 |
| 41 | Ghana | 3% | 2025 |
| 42 | Liberia | 2.9% | 2025 |
| 43 | Mali | 2.8% | 2025 |
| 44 | Uganda | 2.7% | 2025 |
| 45 | Senegal | 2.7% | 2025 |
| 46 | Guinea-Bissau | 2.7% | 2025 |
| 47 | Seychelles | 2.6% | 2024 |
| 48 | Cote d'Ivoire | 2.3% | 2025 |
| 49 | Togo | 2% | 2025 |
| 50 | Benin | 1.6% | 2025 |
| 51 | Tanzania | 1.6% | 2025 |
| 52 | Chad | 1.1% | 2025 |
| 53 | Burundi | 0.9% | 2025 |
| 54 | Niger | 0.4% | 2025 |
Get this ranking via API
One call to /v1/data returns the latest Unemployment Rate figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=unemployment_pct&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Frequently asked questions
Which African country has the highest unemployment rate?
Djibouti has the highest unemployment rate in Africa at 38.8% (2025), followed by Eswatini and South Africa.
How many African countries report Unemployment Rate data?
54 of 54 African countries have a recent Unemployment Rate figure in the Africa API. Each value links to the country's full series with source and history.
How do I get this ranking via API?
Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=unemployment_pct&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.