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 Q4 2022 was 3.7%, up from 3.6% in Q3 2022. The UK rate for Q4 2022 was above Germany (3.0%) and the US (3.6%) but below France (7.2%).

The rate for the Eurozone was unchanged at 6.7% in Q4 2022, while in the G7 it was unchanged at 4.0%.

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 Q4 2022 at 13.0%, followed by Greece at 11.8%. Czech Republic had the lowest at 2.4%.

Youth (aged 15-24) unemployment is a major issue in many developed economies at present. In Q4 2022 the youth unemployment rate was 29.9% in Spain, 29.4% in Greece and 28.9% in Costa Rica. It was 11.3% in the UK.