Countries by Unemployment, female (% of female labor force) (modeled ILO estimate)
West Bank and Gaza leads all 186 countries with a female unemployment rate of 40.00%, nearly 173 times higher than Cambodia at the bottom of the ranking with 0.23%. The gap between first and last spans more than 39 percentage points, reflecting extreme variation in female labor force conditions across regions. High-income, low-income, and conflict-affected economies are distributed throughout the ranking in ways that do not follow a simple pattern.
Ranking 2025
Values shown in %.
Analysis
This metric measures female unemployment as a share of the female labor force. The World Bank defines it as follows: unemployment refers to the share of the labor force that is without work but available for and seeking employment. The indicator is expressed as a percentage and is sourced from the World Bank World Development Indicators under indicator code SL.UEM.TOTL.FE.ZS, using modeled International Labour Organization estimates for the 2025 data year. Coverage is strong: 186 countries carry data, surpassing the 80-country threshold, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. All 186 countries have data from within the last seven years, and 181 of 186 (97.3%) report values for the latest reference year. The metric counts only those without work who are actively seeking and available for employment — it does not capture discouraged workers who have stopped searching, workers in informal or subsistence arrangements, or those in part-time work who seek full-time employment.
The top of the ranking is dominated by economies in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and conflict-affected territories. West Bank and Gaza ranks first at 40.00%, followed by Eswatini at 36.03% (rank 2) and Djibouti at 35.43% (rank 3). South Africa ranks fourth at 34.00%, and Yemen ranks fifth at 30.34%. Iraq (30.09%, rank 6), Gabon (28.58%, rank 7), Botswana (27.88%, rank 8), the Syrian Arab Republic (26.08%, rank 9), and Libya (25.19%, rank 10) round out the top ten. Several Southern and Eastern European countries also appear in the upper third: Spain ranks 37th at 11.94%, Greece ranks 41st at 11.33%, and Montenegro ranks 26th at 14.24%, placing them alongside lower-income economies in this metric.
The middle of the ranking contains a varied set of economies. The United States ranks 120th at 4.18%, and the United Kingdom ranks 113th at 4.41%. Germany ranks 140th at 3.41% and Japan ranks 164th at 2.30%, placing both among the lower-unemployment countries. A notable anomaly appears at ranks 129 and 130: Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan share an identical value of 3.998%, producing a tied ranking. At the bottom, Cambodia ranks 186th at 0.23%, Niger ranks 185th at 0.30%, and Qatar ranks 184th at 0.39%. Several high-income Gulf states appear near the bottom: Qatar at 0.39% (rank 184) and the United Arab Emirates at 4.19% (rank 119), which contrasts sharply with neighboring Yemen at 30.34% (rank 5). The statistical range runs from 0.23% to 40.00%, a spread of 17,215%, and the dataset contains 28 extreme outliers identified at the 3-sigma threshold.
Because this metric uses modeled ILO estimates rather than direct survey data for all countries, values for economies with limited statistical infrastructure carry greater uncertainty. The modeled approach allows broader country coverage but can smooth over year-to-year variation or diverge from nationally reported figures. The metric excludes informal workers and discouraged workers by definition, which means countries with large informal sectors or cultural barriers to female labor force participation may show artificially low unemployment rates — not because women are employed, but because they are not counted as part of the labor force in the first place. Very low female unemployment rates at the bottom of the ranking, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia, may reflect high rates of subsistence or informal work rather than strong formal employment conditions. Year-over-year volatility averaged 10.1% across the dataset, suggesting meaningful fluctuation that should be considered when comparing rankings across time.
Methodology
Data is drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code SL.UEM.TOTL.FE.ZS, for the 2025 data year. The metric is defined as: unemployment refers to the share of the labor force that is without work but available for and seeking employment. Values represent modeled International Labour Organization estimates expressed as a percentage of the female labor force. The ranking covers 186 countries, exceeding the 80-country coverage threshold. All 186 countries have data from within the last seven years, and 100% of datapoints are classified as official quality. Of the 186 countries, 181 (97.3%) report values for the latest reference year. The dataset contains 28 extreme outliers identified using a 3-sigma threshold, and the average year-over-year change is 10.1%, well within the 50% volatility threshold. Values range from 0.23% (Cambodia) to 40.00% (West Bank and Gaza), a spread of 17,215%. No microstates (population under 1 million) are included in this dataset.