15 Countries with the Lowest Unemployment Rates in the World in 2017

If you have been looking for a job during a past couple of months and are still unemployed, perhaps you should consider moving to one of the countries with the lowest unemployment rates in the world in 2017.

Life seems to be going smoothly when you are in school and when you put all of your energy and thought into getting that piece of paper that makes you qualified to enter into the labor force, or so most of us think. You might have financial troubles which, more often than not, pressure you to adapt to the capitalist mode of existence by developing your own survival techniques. However, in general, you are too occupied balancing between your studies and social life at the campus to be thinking about the two digit number on your credit card. The gratification you reach upon finally obtaining your degree does not last long as what follows is the pressure to find a job. Apart from being time and energy consuming, it can also be frustrating and disappointing. The effort you put sometimes seems to be in vain, especially if you are looking for a job in a country which has a rather high unemployment rate. We wrote about these countries in our article 11 Countries With the Highest Unemployment Rates in the World. This time we focus on countries with the lowest unemployment rates in the world, and we specifically look into 2017 statistics. Also, you can check out the 11 Countries with the Highest Minimum Wage in the World in 2017, to see if there is some overlapping with today’s list.

There are many things that have to fall into place so you can land your perfect job opportunity. It is not just a matter of your education level and experience. The law of supply and demand of job market also plays a significant role, perhaps the most significant. And let us admit it to ourselves, sometimes luck overshadows all of these, and it all becomes a matter of being at the right place at the right time. The Undercover Recruiter has recently published statistical data concerning the highest demand jobs and the fastest growing industries in the USA in 2017. Registered nurse, office manager, operations manager, personal care aide, and accountant are the top five jobs in demand. The fastest growing industry, without much surprise, is IT, showing 18 percent of growth. It is followed by healthcare, design, business and financial sector, and sales. Given the influential role the USA plays on the neoliberal capitalist scene and the fact that it stands as an epitome of a developed economy, I believe these data resemble the economies of the countries with the lowest unemployment rates in 2017.

The report published by the International Labor Organization at the beginning of last year predicted a rise in unemployment in 2017 of 3.4 million people. According to the report, the trend will continue in 2018, with an increase of 2.7 million unemployed people. ILO provides annual reports on the global unemployment rate across regions. The global unemployment rate 2015 shows that South Asia as having the lowest unemployment rate, 3.95 %. The Middle East and North Africa had the highest unemployment rate that same year, 11.71 %. While still leading as the region with the lowest unemployment, South Asia experienced a small rise in unemployment in 2016, 3.96 %. The Middle East and North Africa experienced an improvement as its unemployment rate dropped to 11.65 %. However, it remained the region with the highest unemployment in the context of the global unemployment rate 2016.

According to Trading Economics, the country with the highest unemployment rate is Djibouti, where the last recorded unemployment rate is 54.0 %. Interestingly enough, the unemployment rate in India, compared to that of Djibouti is not high – 4.9; however, the UN predicts an increase of the unemployment rate between 2017 and 2018, which suggests stagnation in job creation. While having a relatively low unemployment rate compared to some other African countries (11.3 %), the Zimbabwe unemployment rate shows a tendency to grow. Quite contrary to these is an example of France, which seems to be determined in improving its statistics on unemployment. The unemployment rate in France is 9.5 % which indicates a slow, but steady decrease. As indicated by the Eurostat, the unemployment rate in Europe in August 2017 was 9.1 %, which is lower than the year before when the rate was 9.9 %.

When creating the list of 15 countries with the lowest unemployment rates in the world in 2017, I referred to the data provided by countryeconomy.com, concerning July and August 2017 and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, concerning the first quarter of 2017. The ranking is based on the average value of the unemployment rates provided by both sources. The differences in the unemployment rates data provided by these two sources are minor. I should note that there is no worldwide statistics which would allow a comparison of unemployment rates of all countries. ILO does publish annual reports on unemployment rates. However, it analyzes regional unemployment. OECD also publishes annual reports, however, these reports contain data on unemployment of OECD member countries.

So, without further ado, let’s see our results.

15. Russia

Russia’s unemployment rate in August 2017 was 4.9 % which places it on the last spot of the list. The unemployment rate in Russia shows a tendency of decreasing. In 2015, its unemployment rate was 5.8 %, while in 2016 it was 5.3 %. Russia is ranked 13th on the OECD list.

14. Poland

The unemployment rate in Poland is 4.7 %, which is lower compared to last year when the unemployment rate was 5.5 %. Just like Russia, Poland shows the tendency of improvement in terms of low unemployment rate. The unemployment rate for people below 25 years of age is 14.4 % which is 10 % higher than the unemployment rate for people above 25.

13. New Zealand

Up next in our list of countries with the lowest unemployment rates in the world in 2017 is New Zealand which has a pretty low unemployment rate of 4.9 %, which is 0.3 % improvement compared to the unemployment rate recorded in the previous quarter. As indicated on the official webpage of New Zealand government, “the accommodation and food services, construction industries contributed almost half this increase” in employment, which is around 32.300 jobs.

12. United States of America

The unemployment rate in the USA is 4.4 % which ranks it 12th on our list of countries with the lowest unemployment rates in the world in 2017. This is an improvement compared to 2015 when the rate was 5 %. The unemployment rates of women and men are almost the same value, for men it is 4.5 %, while for women it is 4.4 %. The USA is ranked 11th on the OECD list. While they do remain one of the most powerful economies, it seems that there is space for improvement.

11. United Kingdom

UK ranks 11th in our list of countries with the lowest unemployment rates in the world in 2017. It has an unemployment rate only 0.1 % lower than that of the USA, which shows an improvement compared to previous years. 11.9 % of the people below the age of 25 is unemployed, out of which 13.2 % are men and 10.6 % are women. 3.2 % of the people above 25 are unemployed. Let’s hope that Brexit does not change this statistical data for worse.

10. Hungary

Hungary’s unemployment rate in July 2017 was 4.3 %, which reflects a rather developed economy. What Hungarian government should eliminate is the disparity in the unemployment rate of men and women, 3.9 % of men and 4.7 % of women are unemployed.

9. Israel

Israel is ranked 7th on the OECD list of the countries with the lowest unemployment rate, with an unemployment rate of 4.3 %. This shows an improvement, as the unemployment rate in October 2016 was 4.9 %. As Trading Economics shows, the last measured employment rate is 61.3 %.

8. Norway

We are continuing our list of countries with the lowest unemployment rates in the world in 2017 with Norway which has a strong economy which shows in its low unemployment rate of 4.2 %. If we look at the unemployment rates for previous years, this shows an improvement. Norway seems to be headed toward the lowest unemployment rate possible. Unlike Hungary which notes the higher percentage of women who are unemployed, Norway has 0.8 % more unemployed men than women.

7. Malta

This small European country seems to be doing well in terms of economy, which is why it ranks 7th on our list of 15 countries with the lowest unemployment rates in the world in 2017. The unemployment rate estimated for August 2017 was 4.2 %, noting 11.9 % unemployment of persons below the age of 25 and 3.0 % unemployment of persons above 25. The difference in male and female unemployment is not that big, 0.4 % more women are unemployed than men.

6. South Korea

This OECD member is the world’s 11th largest economy. As OECD report notes, “Korea’s labor market proved to be particularly resilient in the wake of the global financial crisis.“ The unemployment rate of Korea remains low, 3.8 %. There was a steady increase in the employment rate 64.7 % in the first quarter of 2017.

5. Germany

Germany ranks 5th in our list of countries with the lowest unemployment rates in the world in 2017. It is an unstoppable economic power. Other countries representatives could learn a thing or two about leadership from Germany’s most powerful woman, Angela Merkel. Germany’s unemployment rate remains low, 3.6 %. This was an improvement compared to 2015 when the unemployment rate reached 4.4 %. Germany ranks 6th on the OECD list.

4. Mexico

Mexico seems to be doing better in terms of the economy than the USA. I wonder how President Trump would feel about this. I guess he is unaware of it. Mexico has an unemployment rate of 3.5 %, which is just 0.1 % higher than the unemployment rate for 2016. Female unemployment is 4.0 %, while male unemployment is 3.3 %. Mexico is ranked 4th on our list as well as on OECD list.

3. Czech Republic

Another European country which reached our list of 15 countries with the lowest unemployment rates in 2017. The unemployment rate of Czech Republic in August 2017 was 3.1 % which shows a significant improvement compared to the unemployment rate in 2015 which was 4.5 %. The unemployment rate for youth is 8 %, out of which 7.5 % are men and 8.7 % are women.

2. Iceland

You do not go to Iceland just to see the dancing lights of the Aurora, but also to get the status of the employed person. At least that is what one thinks after reading that Iceland has an unemployment rate of only 2.8 %. Now wonder it’s this high in our list of countries with the lowest unemployment rates in the world in 2017. The unemployment rate for women is 2.5 %, which is 0.5 % lower than the unemployment rate for men. In 2015 Iceland had the unemployment rate of 3.3 %, while in 2016 it was 2.8 %. And now, let’s see what is the country with the lowest unemployment rate.

1. Japan

Japan’s 2.8 % unemployment rate places it at the top of the list. In 2015 this country had an unemployment rate of 3.3 %, while in 2016 it was 3.1 %, which implies that it shows a tendency to decrease. 4.8 % of the persons below the age of 25 are registered as unemployed. The unemployment rate for women is 2.5 %, which is lower than the unemployment rate for men, 2.9 %. Given that Japan has the third largest automobile industry and is continually making advances in the high-tech sector, its success in eradicating unemployment is not surprising.

This was Insider Monkey’s list of 15 countries with the lowest unemployment rates in the world in 2017.