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Tonga — Unemployment
Unemployment Rate for Tonga, 1991–2025.
Latest value · 2025
2.01%
Unemployment Rate · % of total labor force · +49.0% since 1991
Unemployment for Tonga was 2.01% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 35 years, from 1991 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 5.18% in 2003. The lowest was 1.09% in 2006 (about 1.8× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to 1.18% per year.
Tonga ranks 171 of 187 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 91%. The median for East Asia & Pacific is 3.05%, so Tonga sits below it. It peaked in 2003 and has fallen 61% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved down 1%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
2.01%
First (1991)
1.35%
Change
+49.0%
Highest
5.18%
in 2003
Lowest
1.09%
in 2006
Average
2.32%
Annual growth (CAGR)
1.18%
Years of data
35
Recent years
| Year | % of total labor force |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 2.01% |
| 2024 | 1.97% |
| 2023 | 1.65% |
| 2022 | 2% |
| 2021 | 2.11% |
| 2020 | 2.71% |
| 2019 | 2.17% |
| 2018 | 2.25% |
| 2017 | 2.14% |
| 2016 | 2.05% |
| 2015 | 2.02% |
| 2014 | 1.91% |
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.