As of April 2023, South Africa had the highest unemployment rate in the world The unemployment rate in South Africa stood at 34.7 percent as that time of the year. The country has recently been plagued by an economic downturn, including energy shortage and high unemployment levels. On the other hand, Japan had the lowest unemployment rate at just 2.3 percent.
The unemployment rate is the number of people in the workforce currently looking for jobs but not working. This number does not include students and retirees, as they are not looking for work, nor does it include people who have given up on finding a job (known as discouraged workers). Comparing international unemployment rates can be problematic, however, as different countries use different methodologies when classifying unemployment. For example, Niger records the third lowest unemployment rate in the world, despite often being listed as the least developed country worldwide – this is because the majority of the population engage in subsistence farming, with very little opportunity for paid employment.