Unemployment international comparisons: Economic indicators

Economic indicators are quick-read summaries of the latest data focusing on different aspects of the UK economy. The full suite of indicators can be found on the main Economic Indicators page.

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

The UK harmonised unemployment rate for Q1 2025 was 4.5%. This was above Germany (3.6%) and the US (4.1%) but below France (7.4%).

The Eurozone’s rate was 6.3% in Q1 2025, while in the G7 it was 4.3%.

Spain had the highest unemployment rate out of the OECD member states in Q1 2025 at 10.9%, followed by Colombia at 9.5%. Japan had the lowest at 2.5%.

Youth (aged 15 to 24) unemployment is a major issue in many developed economies at present. In Q1 2025 the youth unemployment rate was 26.3% in Spain, and it was also over 20% in Sweden (24.0%), Costa Rica (23.6%), Chile (21.7%), Luxembourg (20.8%), Finland (20.7%),Portugal (20.5%), Greece (20.3%) and Italy (20.1%). It was 14.2% in the UK.

Next updates

This page is updated when new data is published. The next source updates will be:

• OECD, Harmonised Unemployment Rates, 18 August 2025