Unemployment – International Comparisons: Key Economic Indicators

The OECD produces harmonised unemployment rates for OECD members based on the ILO definition of unemployment.

The UK harmonised unemployment rate for Q2 2023 was 4.2%, up from 3.9% in Q1 2023. This was above Germany (3.0%) and the US (3.6%) but below France (7.3%).

The Eurozone’s rate was 6.5% in Q3 2023, unchanged from Q2, while in the G7 it was 4.1%, up from 4.0%. The UK’s Q3 rate has not yet been published.

Unemployment rates rose in almost all the OECD countries following the coronavirus outbreak, although the size of the increase varied widely.

Spain had the highest unemployment rate out of the OECD member states in Q2 2023 at 12.0%, followed by Greece at 11.3%. Japan and South Korea had the lowest at 2.6%.

Youth (aged 15-24) unemployment is a major issue in many developed economies at present. In Q2 2023 the youth unemployment rate was 27.8% in Spain, 26.4% in Costa Rica and 25.9% in Greece. It was 12.3% in the UK.