Arab World: Unemployment, female (% of female labor force) (national estimate)

Key figures

What the numbers say

From 2007 to 2016 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 18% of the movement over 8 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

What this measures

Unemployment refers to the share of the labor force that is without work but available for and seeking employment. Definitions of labor force and unemployment differ by country.

Limitations: The criteria for people considered to be seeking work, and the treatment of people temporarily laid off or seeking work for the first time, vary across countries. In many cases it is especially difficult to measure employment and unemployment in agriculture. The timing of a survey can maximize the effects of seasonal unemployment in agriculture. And informal sector employment is difficult to quantify where informal activities are not tracked.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 10 values

Unemployment, female (% of female labor force) (national estimate) in nearby economies

• Algeria — 20.71% (2017)
• Bahrain — 3.53% (2015)
• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 11.9% (2024)
• Iran, Islamic Rep. — 14.27% (2024)
• Israel — 2.9% (2025)
• Jordan — 25.01% (2024)
• Kuwait — 5.83% (2016)
• Malta — 3.02% (2025)
• Morocco

More social protection & labor data for Arab World

• Net migration — 696,991 (2025)
• Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asylum — 3.48 million (2025)
• Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of origin — 9.09 million (2025)
• Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, female (%) (modeled ILO estimate) — 9.95% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, male (%) (modeled ILO estimate) — 39.31% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, total (%) (modeled ILO estimate) — 25.09% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15-64) (modeled ILO estimate) — 20.37% (2025)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Arab World's unemployment, female (% of female labor force) (national estimate)?

18.96% in 2016, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2005?

It is down 1.25 percentage points from 20.21% in 2005. The highest value was 21.59% in 2011 and the lowest 16.82% in 2007.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO), uri: https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/bulk/, publisher: ILOSTAT, type: external database, date accessed: September 28, 2026.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SL.UEM.TOTL.FE.NE.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO), uri: https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/bulk/, publisher: ILOSTAT, type: external database, date accessed: September 28, 2026 Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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