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New Zealand — Unemployment
Unemployment Rate for New Zealand, 1991–2025.
Latest value · 2025
5.08%
Unemployment Rate · % of total labor force · -52.2% since 1991
Unemployment for New Zealand was 5.08% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 35 years, from 1991 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 10.67% in 1992. The lowest was 3.30% in 2022 (about 1.5× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to -2.15% per year.
New Zealand ranks 97 of 187 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 52%. The median for East Asia & Pacific is 3.05%, so New Zealand sits above it. It peaked in 1992 and has fallen 52% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved down 6%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
5.08%
First (1991)
10.61%
Change
-52.2%
Highest
10.67%
in 1992
Lowest
3.30%
in 2022
Average
5.75%
Annual growth (CAGR)
-2.15%
Years of data
35
Recent years
| Year | % of total labor force |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 5.08% |
| 2024 | 4.72% |
| 2023 | 3.73% |
| 2022 | 3.3% |
| 2021 | 3.78% |
| 2020 | 4.6% |
| 2019 | 4.11% |
| 2018 | 4.34% |
| 2017 | 4.74% |
| 2016 | 5.15% |
| 2015 | 5.42% |
| 2014 | 5.43% |
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.