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Indicator

Unemployment Rate by African country

2025

Share of the labor force that is unemployed.

Africa, 202552 of 54 countries
6.3%population-weighted average
Highest in 2025Djibouti · 38.8%Lowest in 2025Niger · 0.4%Reported in 202552 of 54 countries surveyed
Click a country to pin it — pinned countries are named on the map. Hatching means no record.
Western Sahara — no separate recordTanzania — 2.8%Democratic Republic of the Congo — 4.4%Somalia — 18.9%Kenya — 5.4%Sudan — no dataChad — 1.1%South Africa — 29.6%Lesotho — 16.3%Zimbabwe — 9.2%Botswana — 24.5%Namibia — 19.3%Senegal — 4.6%Mali — 2.8%Mauritania — 10.3%Benin — 1.6%Niger — 0.4%Nigeria — 3.1%Cameroon — 3.6%Togo — 2.0%Ghana — 3.2%Cote d'Ivoire — 2.3%Guinea — 5.2%Guinea-Bissau — 2.7%Liberia — 2.9%Sierra Leone — 3.1%Burkina Faso — 7.1%Central African Republic — 6.3%Republic of the Congo — 19.9%Gabon — 20.2%Equatorial Guinea — 8.3%Zambia — 5.9%Malawi — 5.1%Mozambique — 6.6%Eswatini — 34.2%Angola — 10.4%Burundi — 0.9%Madagascar — 3.0%Gambia — 7.1%Tunisia — 15.1%Algeria — 11.6%Eritrea — 6.0%Morocco — 9.0%Egypt — 6.8%Libya — 18.8%Ethiopia — 3.3%Djibouti — 38.8%Uganda — 2.7%Rwanda — 5.4%South Sudan — no dataNigeria 3.1%Nigeria 3.1%Ethiopia 3.3%Ethiopia 3.3%Kenya 5.4%Kenya 5.4%South Africa 29.6%South Africa 29.6%2025HIGHEST IN 2025Djibouti38.8%Eswatini34.2%South Africa29.6%Botswana24.5%Gabon20.2%LOWEST IN 2025Niger0.4%Burundi0.9%Chad1.1%Benin1.6%Togo2.0%PINNEDEthiopia3.3%36 of 52Kenya5.4%28 of 52Nigeria3.1%39 of 52OTHER ISLAND STATES · NOT DRAWNCabo Verdenot drawn11.9%Comorosnot drawn3.8%Mauritiusnot drawn5.6%Sao Tome and Principenot drawn9.1%Seychellesnot drawn2.6%% of labour force · quintiles of the observed range0.4%2.8%4.6%6.8%11.9%38.8%no record
20142025
ILOSTAT and World Bank · national statistics offices · the provider's own estimates where a country has not reportedCC BY 4.0
Countries

By region

Population-weighted, so a region’s figure is the share of its people, not the average of its countries.
Southern Africa5 of 5 countries28.6%
Northern Africa5 of 6 countries9.0%
Middle Africa9 of 9 countries5.8%
Eastern Africa17 of 18 countries4.8%
Western Africa16 of 16 countries3.2%
Africaall 54 countries · 52 with a 2025 figure6.3%

What to know before you quote this

Specific to this series. For how we treat data generally, see methods.
Two countries have no usable 2025 recordNot a low value — no figure within the window. South Sudan and Sudan are hatched on the map and blank in the table.
Certainty is judged year by yearA country can be Reported in one year and Modelled the next. The tag follows the year on the scrubber, so the 2025 assessment is not a verdict on the whole series.

About this data

Unemployment RateShare of the labor force that is unemployed.
SourceILOSTAT and World Bank, with processing by Africa API
Unit% of labour force
Last updated15 Oct 2026
Next expected updateOct 2027
Date range1991–2025
Coverage52 of 54 countries · 52 reported, 0 modelled, 2 with no usable figure

How the figure is made

ReportedA national statistics office or the original provider published the figure for that year directly. 52 countries did so for 2025 — the certainty shown on this page is that 2025 assessment, not a per-series one.ModelledNo direct figure that year. The provider’s own estimate, interpolation or projection stands in, and is marked as such wherever it appears.No dataNo usable figure within the window. Drawn hatched on the map and left blank in the table — not zero, and not filled in.

These three states are used the same way across every indicator on the site — how we treat certainty explains the full set and what we never do to a number.

Reuse and cite

Everything on this page is open under CC BY 4.0 — use it anywhere, including commercially, as long as Africa API and the original provider are credited. The provider’s own licence still applies to their data.

How to cite this page
Africa API (2026) — "Unemployment Rate". Data adapted from ILOSTAT and World Bank. Retrieved 18 Oct 2026 from africa-api.com/indicators/unemployment
The request behind this view
GET /v1/data?metric_key=unemployment_pct&year=2025&limit=100

Read next

The measures that explain this one.
EconomyGDPGross domestic product in current US dollars.EconomyGDP per CapitaGross domestic product divided by mid-year population, in current US dollars.EconomyInflation RateLatest year-on-year consumer price inflation.

Unemployment Rate: most recent figure per country, highest to lowest

53 countries · each with its own period

The figures at the top of the page compare every country in the same year. This list takes each country’s newest figure instead, whatever its period, so the order can differ.

#CountryUnemployment RatePeriod
1Djibouti38.8%2025
2Eswatini34.2%2025
3South Africa29.6%2025
4Botswana24.5%2025
5Gabon20.2%2025
6Republic of the Congo19.9%2025
7Namibia19.3%2025
8Somalia18.9%2025
9Libya18.8%2025
10Lesotho16.3%2025
11Tunisia15.1%2025
12South Sudan12.4%2023
13Cabo Verde11.9%2025
14Algeria11.6%2025
15Angola10.4%2025
16Mauritania10.3%2025
17Zimbabwe9.2%2025
18Sao Tome and Principe9.1%2025
19Morocco9%2025
20Equatorial Guinea8.3%2025
21Burkina Faso7.1%2025
22Gambia7.1%2025
23Egypt6.8%2025
24Mozambique6.6%2025
25Central African Republic6.3%2025
26Eritrea6%2025
27Zambia5.9%2025
28Mauritius5.6%2025
29Kenya5.4%2025
30Rwanda5.4%2025
31Guinea5.2%2025
32Malawi5.1%2025
33Senegal4.6%2025
34Democratic Republic of the Congo4.4%2025
35Comoros3.8%2025
36Cameroon3.6%2025
37Ethiopia3.3%2025
38Ghana3.2%2025
39Sierra Leone3.15%2025
40Nigeria3.1%2025
41Madagascar3%2025
42Liberia2.9%2025
43Mali2.8%2025
44Tanzania2.8%2025
45Uganda2.7%2025
46Guinea-Bissau2.7%2025
47Seychelles2.58%2025
48Cote d'Ivoire2.3%2025
49Togo2%2025
50Benin1.6%2025
51Chad1.1%2025
52Burundi0.9%2025
53Niger0.4%2025
Which observations are included?
The ranking includes 53 of 54 countries with available observations for 2023 or later and within 2 years of the freshest result. Each figure shows its reporting period. Countries without an eligible observation are omitted.
Does a higher value mean a better result?
The ranking is sorted by value, from highest to lowest. The order does not rate a country's performance. Interpretation depends on the indicator and its definition.

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