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Singapore — Unemployment
Unemployment Rate for Singapore, 1991–2025.
Latest value · 2025
2.82%
Unemployment Rate · % of total labor force · +29.3% since 1991
Unemployment for Singapore was 2.82% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 35 years, from 1991 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 5.93% in 2003. The lowest was 2.18% in 1991 (about 1.3× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to 0.76% per year.
Singapore ranks 155 of 187 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 83%. The median for East Asia & Pacific is 3.05%, so Singapore sits below it. It peaked in 2003 and has fallen 52% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved down 26%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
2.82%
First (1991)
2.18%
Change
+29.3%
Highest
5.93%
in 2003
Lowest
2.18%
in 1991
Average
3.92%
Annual growth (CAGR)
0.76%
Years of data
35
Recent years
| Year | % of total labor force |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2.82% |
| 2024 | 2.74% |
| 2023 | 3.44% |
| 2022 | 3.59% |
| 2021 | 4.64% |
| 2020 | 4.1% |
| 2019 | 3.1% |
| 2018 | 3.61% |
| 2017 | 4.2% |
| 2016 | 4.08% |
| 2015 | 3.79% |
| 2014 | 3.74% |
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.