Home / Unemployment / Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe — Unemployment
Unemployment Rate for Zimbabwe, 1991–2025.
Latest value · 2025
9.29%
Unemployment Rate · % of total labor force · +93.9% since 1991
Unemployment for Zimbabwe was 9.29% in 2025, according to the latest World Bank data. The series covers 35 years, from 1991 to 2025. The highest recorded value was 10.09% in 2022. The lowest was 4.39% in 2004 (about 2.1× the low point). Across that span the compound annual growth rate works out to 1.97% per year.
Zimbabwe ranks 42 of 187 economies on this measure (1 = highest), putting it in the top 22%. The median for Sub-Saharan Africa is 5.45%, so Zimbabwe sits above it. It peaked in 2022 and has fallen 8% since. Over the last decade (2015–2025) the figure moved up 72%.
Key figures
Latest (2025)
9.29%
First (1991)
4.79%
Change
+93.9%
Highest
10.09%
in 2022
Lowest
4.39%
in 2004
Average
6.14%
Annual growth (CAGR)
1.97%
Years of data
35
Recent years
| Year | % of total labor force |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 9.29% |
| 2024 | 9.44% |
| 2023 | 9.35% |
| 2022 | 10.09% |
| 2021 | 9.54% |
| 2020 | 8.62% |
| 2019 | 7.37% |
| 2018 | 6.79% |
| 2017 | 6.35% |
| 2016 | 5.9% |
| 2015 | 5.4% |
| 2014 | 4.77% |
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.