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Sao Tome and Principe — Unemployment
Unemployment Rate for Sao Tome and Principe, 1991–2025.
Latest value · 2025
9.13%
Unemployment Rate · % of total labor force · -37.0% since 1991
Unemployment for Sao Tome and Principe was 9.13% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 35 years, from 1991 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 17.63% in 2002. The lowest was 8.71% in 2018 (about 1.0× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to -1.35% per year.
Sao Tome and Principe ranks 44 of 187 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 24%. The median for Sub-Saharan Africa is 5.45%, so Sao Tome and Principe sits above it. It peaked in 2002 and has fallen 48% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved down 14%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
9.13%
First (1991)
14.49%
Change
-37.0%
Highest
17.63%
in 2002
Lowest
8.71%
in 2018
Average
13.09%
Annual growth (CAGR)
-1.35%
Years of data
35
Recent years
| Year | % of total labor force |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 9.13% |
| 2024 | 9.06% |
| 2023 | 9.03% |
| 2022 | 8.96% |
| 2021 | 9.56% |
| 2020 | 9.68% |
| 2019 | 8.84% |
| 2018 | 8.71% |
| 2017 | 8.81% |
| 2016 | 9.68% |
| 2015 | 10.59% |
| 2014 | 11.43% |
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.