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Burkina Faso — Unemployment
Unemployment Rate for Burkina Faso, 1991–2025.
Latest value · 2025
3.48%
Unemployment Rate · % of total labor force · +40.9% since 1991
Unemployment for Burkina Faso was 3.48% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 35 years, from 1991 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 4.70% in 2018. The lowest was 2.41% in 1997 (about 1.4× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to 1.01% per year.
Burkina Faso ranks 132 of 187 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 71%. The median for Sub-Saharan Africa is 5.45%, so Burkina Faso sits below it. It peaked in 2018 and has fallen 26% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved down 22%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
3.48%
First (1991)
2.47%
Change
+40.9%
Highest
4.70%
in 2018
Lowest
2.41%
in 1997
Average
3.46%
Annual growth (CAGR)
1.01%
Years of data
35
Recent years
| Year | % of total labor force |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 3.48% |
| 2024 | 3.44% |
| 2023 | 3.6% |
| 2022 | 3.83% |
| 2021 | 4.51% |
| 2020 | 4.59% |
| 2019 | 4.49% |
| 2018 | 4.7% |
| 2017 | 4.66% |
| 2016 | 4.6% |
| 2015 | 4.47% |
| 2014 | 4.26% |
Reading this correctly. Share of the labor force without work but available for and seeking employment. National definitions differ, so cross-country comparison needs care. Figures are in % of total labor force. Comparing this series with a different measure of the same concept (for example a nominal figure against a purchasing-power-parity figure) will give misleading results.
Related data
Source. World Bank Open Data, indicator
SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS — Unemployment Rate. Data licensed under CC BY 4.0. Values are reproduced as published; this page computes the summary statistics (change, CAGR, extremes) from the underlying annual series. View the original dataset on data.worldbank.org.