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Namibia — Unemployment
Unemployment Rate for Namibia, 1991–2025.
Latest value · 2025
19.29%
Unemployment Rate · % of total labor force · +0.8% since 1991
Unemployment for Namibia was 19.29% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 35 years, from 1991 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 24.45% in 1997. The lowest was 16.77% in 2012 (about 1.2× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to 0.02% per year.
Namibia ranks 8 of 187 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 4%. The median for Sub-Saharan Africa is 5.45%, so Namibia sits above it. It peaked in 1997 and has fallen 21% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved down 7%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
19.29%
First (1991)
19.14%
Change
+0.8%
Highest
24.45%
in 1997
Lowest
16.77%
in 2012
Average
20.80%
Annual growth (CAGR)
0.02%
Years of data
35
Recent years
| Year | % of total labor force |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 19.29% |
| 2024 | 19.16% |
| 2023 | 19.15% |
| 2022 | 19.61% |
| 2021 | 20.93% |
| 2020 | 21% |
| 2019 | 19.93% |
| 2018 | 19.88% |
| 2017 | 21.75% |
| 2016 | 23.35% |
| 2015 | 20.79% |
| 2014 | 18.52% |
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.