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Eswatini — Unemployment
Unemployment Rate for Eswatini, 1991–2025.
Latest value · 2025
34.20%
Unemployment Rate · % of total labor force · +66.7% since 1991
Unemployment for Eswatini was 34.20% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 35 years, from 1991 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 36.47% in 2022. The lowest was 20.52% in 1991 (about 1.7× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to 1.51% per year.
Eswatini ranks 1 of 187 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 1%. The median for Sub-Saharan Africa is 5.45%, so Eswatini sits above it. It peaked in 2022 and has fallen 6% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved up 46%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
34.20%
First (1991)
20.52%
Change
+66.7%
Highest
36.47%
in 2022
Lowest
20.52%
in 1991
Average
26.41%
Annual growth (CAGR)
1.51%
Years of data
35
Recent years
| Year | % of total labor force |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 34.2% |
| 2024 | 34.64% |
| 2023 | 34.61% |
| 2022 | 36.47% |
| 2021 | 34.15% |
| 2020 | 32.98% |
| 2019 | 28.22% |
| 2018 | 26.47% |
| 2017 | 24.54% |
| 2016 | 22.72% |
| 2015 | 23.43% |
| 2014 | 23.93% |
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.