Home / Unemployment / China
China — Unemployment
Unemployment Rate for China, 1991–2025.
Latest value · 2025
4.62%
Unemployment Rate · % of total labor force · +94.7% since 1991
Unemployment for China was 4.62% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 35 years, from 1991 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 5.00% in 2020. The lowest was 2.37% in 1991 (about 1.9× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to 1.98% per year.
China ranks 112 of 187 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 60%. The median for East Asia & Pacific is 3.05%, so China sits above it. It peaked in 2020 and has fallen 8% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved down 1%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
4.62%
First (1991)
2.37%
Change
+94.7%
Highest
5.00%
in 2020
Lowest
2.37%
in 1991
Average
4.09%
Annual growth (CAGR)
1.98%
Years of data
35
Recent years
| Year | % of total labor force |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 4.62% |
| 2024 | 4.59% |
| 2023 | 4.67% |
| 2022 | 4.98% |
| 2021 | 4.55% |
| 2020 | 5% |
| 2019 | 4.56% |
| 2018 | 4.31% |
| 2017 | 4.47% |
| 2016 | 4.56% |
| 2015 | 4.65% |
| 2014 | 4.63% |
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.