Let’s explore the places with a lack of opportunity in this list of the 11 countries with the highest unemployment rates in the world. Employment is vital both for an individual and the government. Work allows the country to increase its output and gross domestic product. This in turn gives a country income to support and maintain projects. For an individual, work is a necessity to earn for a living and survive. Without employment both the country and its population suffers. You might be surprised to see this list of countries that have a very large deficit in employment opportunities.
There can be numerous reasons for a country to have low employment rates. It could be mismanagement of the government or even a lack of interest by foreign investors. It can also be due to violent conflicts like civil wars. The countries in this list suffer and can be seen as an exact opposite of The World’s 15 Fastest Growing Economies. Unemployment may be just a factor in a bigger picture of a country’s lack of action. Each problem compounds one another.
What countries do you think are on this list? A good portion of these listed here are countries that you might not have heard of before or are notorious for being economically distraught. Let’s go ahead to number eleven:
11. Lesotho
42.7% unemployment
The country has been heavily affected by the recession and the global economic downfall. They also had a number of devastating floods around 4 years ago. Poverty continues to affect the country and a spreading AIDS virus is also a significant obstruction.
10. Bosnia and Herzegovina
44.3% unemployment
A good portion of unemployment in Bosnia and Herzegovina comes from their youth. During 2012, unemployment among the youth rose to 63% causing major concerns. Many people in the country consider getting a job as miraculous due to the lack of opportunities especially for distant towns.
9. Kosovo
45.3% unemployment
Kosovo has had a long struggle with unemployment due to instability of theirs government. They had a recent conflict against communism and independence that ended just before the year 2000. The mountainous country has yet to recover from the crisis, since a good portion of their youth still remains unemployed.
8. Nepal
46% unemployment
With the country not having many opportunities for employment, Nepal’s unemployment rate is still projected to rise in the coming years. Most of the opportunity in Nepal is in agricultural or other informal works. All of which are generally low paying jobs. A lot of the country’s youth have moved to other countries for better opportunities.
7. Senegal
48% unemployment
Even though African countries like Senegal are improving economically, big challenge the country still faces is the lack of job opportunities for the younger generation. Many attribute this to the rising population of the entire continent.
6. American Samoa
49.9% unemployment
Even with America’s efforts to impose a minimum wage and increase wages overall, American Samoa has still been problematic. It’s because the recent wage improvements also increased the prices of all goods in the country. Good employment is very hard to find.
The 11 countries with the highest unemployment rates in the world continue. The second half of this list goes even beyond the 50% unemployment mark.
5. Djibouti
59% unemployment
One of the major problems that affect Djibouti is the lack of industries that can flourish in the environment. Rain is scarce and the country itself has a very limited amount of natural resources. They heavily rely on importation and exportation of goods which isn’t really helping.
4. Tajikistan
60% unemployment
Tajikistan is one of the economically weakest among the former Soviet countries. They also endured a civil war around the 1990s which further weakened their stand. Around 90% of Tajikistan citizens work in other countries like Russia. For the rest of the country only 40% are employed.
3. Mozambique
60% unemployment
Even with the numerous natural resources from Mozambique, employment is still very hard to find. Even though Mozambique has been rising economically in the past few years there is little work for locals, because most investors in the country are from foreign multinational countries.
2. Zimbabwe
70% unemployment
Zimbabwe’s unemployment rate has been fluctuating over the years. They’ve continued to lack research and statistics to prove this point. Some government officials were even declaring an unemployment rate reaching 85%. As of now, from the last definite election manifest, unemployment stands at 70%
1. Turkmenistan
70% unemployment
The current numbers are not 100% reliable due to Turkmenistan being very secretive about statistics and information. Turkmenistan is known to have very little job opportunities with most of them just in agriculture. The country is famous for the “gates of hell”, a natural gas deposit that has been burning continuously for 40 years.
That is the list of the 11 countries with the highest unemployment rates in the world. If you’re planning to work out of the country, these are the places you should not consider.
