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Panama — Unemployment
Unemployment Rate for Panama, 1991–2025.
Latest value · 2025
8.36%
Unemployment Rate · % of total labor force · +29.8% since 1991
Unemployment for Panama was 8.36% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 35 years, from 1991 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 14.66% in 2020. The lowest was 3.67% in 2013 (about 2.3× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to 0.77% per year.
Panama ranks 51 of 187 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 27%. The median for Latin America & Caribbean is 5.99%, so Panama sits above it. It peaked in 2020 and has fallen 43% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved up 93%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
8.36%
First (1991)
6.44%
Change
+29.8%
Highest
14.66%
in 2020
Lowest
3.67%
in 2013
Average
6.34%
Annual growth (CAGR)
0.77%
Years of data
35
Recent years
| Year | % of total labor force |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 8.36% |
| 2024 | 8.45% |
| 2023 | 6.54% |
| 2022 | 8.09% |
| 2021 | 10.18% |
| 2020 | 14.66% |
| 2019 | 6.26% |
| 2018 | 5.16% |
| 2017 | 5.34% |
| 2016 | 4.72% |
| 2015 | 4.34% |
| 2014 | 4.39% |
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.