Countries by Unemployment, male (% of male labor force) (modeled ILO estimate)
Eswatini records the highest male unemployment rate among 186 countries at 32.46%, meaning roughly one in three men in its labor force is without work but actively seeking it. At the opposite end, Qatar posts just 0.072%, a gap of more than 32 percentage points. That spread reflects the wide variation in labor market structures, economic conditions, and statistical measurement practices across the countries covered.
Ranking 2025
Values shown in %.
Analysis
This metric measures male unemployment as a share of the male labor force, expressed as a percentage. The World Bank defines unemployment as the share of the labor force that is without work but available for and seeking employment. Only men who meet all three conditions — jobless, available, and actively looking — are counted; those outside the labor force entirely, including discouraged workers, are excluded. The data comes from the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code SL.UEM.TOTL.MA.ZS, using modeled ILO estimates for 2025. Coverage is strong: 186 countries are included, well above the 80-country threshold, and 97.3% of entries reflect the latest data year. All datapoints are classified as official quality. The ranking contains 24 extreme outliers by a 3-sigma threshold, and the value range spans 0.07% to 32.46%, a spread of nearly 45,000%, indicating highly uneven global distribution.
The top of the ranking is concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa and conflict-affected or structurally constrained economies. Eswatini ranks first at 32.46%, followed by South Africa at 30.989% (rank 2) and Djibouti at 21.779% (rank 3). Botswana (rank 4, 21.491%) and Namibia (rank 6, 20.12%) also appear in the top ten. Outside Africa, West Bank and Gaza ranks fifth at 20.164%, and Yemen ranks tenth at 16.341%. These placements reflect labor markets where male joblessness is measurably high according to ILO modeled estimates. Finland (rank 33, 10.011%) is the highest-ranked high-income OECD country in the upper tier, while Spain (rank 42, 8.982%) and Sweden (rank 43, 8.777%) also rank relatively high among European economies.
The middle of the ranking includes a broad mix of regions and income levels. France ranks 52nd at 7.547%, Canada 53rd at 7.217%, and the United States 109th at 4.213%. Germany places 117th at 3.976% and Japan 155th at 2.579%. Several Gulf states appear near the bottom: Saudi Arabia ranks 175th at 1.489%, Kuwait 180th at 0.992%, and Bahrain 184th at 0.418%. A notable anomaly is the appearance of Finland (rank 33) above many developing economies, placing it alongside Djibouti and Botswana in the upper quarter of this ranking. Similarly, Sweden (rank 43, 8.777%) and Estonia (rank 44, 8.591%) rank higher than Jordan (rank 12, 14.905%) in terms of reported male unemployment, though their absolute levels are considerably lower. Ecuador and Ghana share an identical value of 2.757% and are both assigned rank 146.
Several limitations affect the interpretation of this ranking. The ILO modeled estimates are designed to allow cross-country comparability, but they may diverge from national survey results, particularly in countries with infrequent or low-coverage labor force surveys. The standard unemployment definition excludes discouraged workers and those in informal subsistence activity, which can significantly understate effective joblessness in low-income economies. Countries with large informal sectors, such as many in sub-Saharan Africa, may show low unemployment rates even when underemployment is widespread. The 24 extreme outliers flagged at the 3-sigma level suggest the distribution is heavily skewed. Data for some territories, including French Polynesia (rank 26), New Caledonia (rank 31), Guam (rank 77), and U.S. Virgin Islands (rank 30), may rely on older or less frequent survey cycles. The 2025 data year reflects model projections rather than surveys conducted in 2025, and users should account for uncertainty in the most recent estimates.
Methodology
The metric is male unemployment as a percentage of the male labor force, using modeled ILO estimates. The source is the World Bank World Development Indicators, indicator code SL.UEM.TOTL.MA.ZS, with a reference year of 2025. The definition applied is: unemployment refers to the share of the labor force that is without work but available for and seeking employment. The ranking covers 186 countries, exceeding the 80-country coverage threshold. All 186 entries (100%) meet the recency requirement of data from the last seven years, and 97.3% reflect the 2025 data year specifically. Data quality is 100% official. The value range runs from 0.072% (Qatar, rank 186) to 32.46% (Eswatini, rank 1), a spread of approximately 44,983%. The viability check identified 24 extreme outliers using a 3-sigma threshold. Average year-over-year change across the dataset is 10.7%, below the 50% volatility threshold. No microstates below 1 million population are included. Modeled estimates enable cross-country comparability but may differ from individual national survey outputs.