Countries With the Fastest Decline in Unemployment rate (5-Year Change)

Name: Countries With the Fastest Decline in Unemployment rate (5-Year Change)
Creator: The World Bank
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Change in Unemployment rate over the five years to each country's latest year, in points (a share or rate is not shown as a % of itself). Only countries that fell are listed. Source: The World Bank (CC BY 4.0).

Summary

St. Lucia fell the most: by 15.8 pts, from 25.2% of labour force to 9.45% of labour force in the five years to 2025. Costa Rica is second (−9.59 pts), followed by Brazil (−7.73 pts). 156 countries fell over that period; the median change among them was −1.25 pts.

#1: St. Lucia · −15.8 pts
Median: −1.25 pts
Coverage: 156 countries
Data year: 2025
Last updated: 2026-11-14

Top 10: 5-year change (points). Bar chart of the top 10: 1. St. Lucia -15.8; 2. Costa Rica -9.59; 3. Brazil -7.73; 4. Colombia -7.69; 5. Greece -7.36; 6. Panama -6.3; 7. Honduras -6.06; 8. Sudan -5.47; 9. Armenia -5.3; 10. Spain -5.16.

Full ranking

Countries With the Fastest Decline in Unemployment rate (5-Year Change), 2025
Rank	Country	From	To	5-year change (points)
1	St. Lucia	25.2	9.45	−15.8 pts
2	Costa Rica	16.4	6.84	−9.59 pts
3	Brazil	13.7	5.97	−7.73 pts
4	Colombia	16	8.29	−7.69 pts
5	Greece	15.9	8.54	−7.36 pts
6	Panama	14.7	8.36	−6.3 pts
7	Honduras	11	4.92	−6.06 pts
8	Sudan	13	7.53	−5.47 pts
9	Armenia	18.2	12.9	−5.3 pts
10	Spain	15.5	10.4	−5.16 pts
11	Bolivia	7.9	2.97	−4.94 pts
12	Bosnia and Herzegovina	15.9	11	−4.83 pts
13	Türkiye	13.1	8.52	−4.63 pts
14	Saudi Arabia	7.66	3.04	−4.62 pts
15	North Macedonia	16.6	12.3	−4.32 pts
16	Argentina	11.5	7.15	−4.32 pts
17	Montenegro	17.9	13.6	−4.31 pts
18	Barbados	10.6	6.52	−4.06 pts
19	United States	8.06	4.2	−3.86 pts
20	India	7.86	4.22	−3.64 pts
21	Russian Federation	5.62	2.13	−3.49 pts
22	Guyana	15.3	12	−3.35 pts
23	Jamaica	6.5	3.29	−3.22 pts
24	Hong Kong SAR, China	5.81	2.8	−3.01 pts
25	Mauritius	8.63	5.64	−2.99 pts
26	Virgin Islands (US)	14.4	11.4	−2.92 pts
27	Puerto Rico (US)	8.89	5.99	−2.9 pts
28	Uruguay	10.4	7.52	−2.9 pts
29	Cyprus	7.76	4.92	−2.83 pts
30	Bahamas, The	12	9.21	−2.81 pts
31	Ecuador	6.12	3.31	−2.81 pts
32	Italy	9.19	6.39	−2.8 pts
33	Canada	9.66	6.91	−2.75 pts
34	Paraguay	7.55	4.8	−2.75 pts
35	Cabo Verde	14.7	11.9	−2.71 pts
36	Jordan	19.2	16.5	−2.68 pts
37	Nigeria	5.71	3.06	−2.65 pts
38	St. Vincent and the Grenadines	20.6	18	−2.63 pts
39	Angola	16.7	14.1	−2.59 pts
40	Nepal	13	10.5	−2.57 pts
41	Tunisia	17.7	15.1	−2.54 pts
42	Samoa	7.47	5	−2.47 pts
43	Algeria	14.1	11.6	−2.45 pts
44	Kyrgyz Republic	5.95	3.53	−2.42 pts
45	Congo, Rep.	22.3	19.9	−2.41 pts
46	Croatia	7.39	5	−2.39 pts
47	New Caledonia	13.6	11.2	−2.38 pts
48	Australia	6.39	4.09	−2.3 pts
49	Venezuela, RB	7.53	5.31	−2.22 pts
50	Morocco	11.2	9	−2.19 pts
51	Brunei Darussalam	7.41	5.28	−2.13 pts
52	United Arab Emirates	4.29	2.17	−2.12 pts
53	Lesotho	18.4	16.3	−2.07 pts
54	Peru	7.18	5.12	−2.06 pts
55	Malta	4.86	2.9	−1.96 pts
56	Chile	10.9	8.97	−1.96 pts
57	Belize	10.8	8.86	−1.91 pts
58	Serbia	9.01	7.12	−1.89 pts
59	Iceland	5.48	3.63	−1.85 pts
60	Bhutan	5.03	3.23	−1.8 pts
61	Slovenia	4.97	3.18	−1.8 pts
62	Azerbaijan	7.24	5.46	−1.78 pts
63	Mexico	4.44	2.67	−1.77 pts
64	Bangladesh	5.54	3.78	−1.76 pts
65	Lithuania	8.49	6.73	−1.76 pts
66	Namibia	21	19.3	−1.71 pts
67	El Salvador	5.01	3.3	−1.71 pts
68	Djibouti	27.7	26	−1.69 pts
69	Syrian Arab Republic	15.2	13.6	−1.61 pts
70	Latvia	8.1	6.57	−1.53 pts
71	Bulgaria	5.04	3.54	−1.5 pts
72	Iran, Islamic Rep.	9.69	8.3	−1.39 pts
73	Slovak Republic	6.72	5.36	−1.36 pts
74	Sri Lanka	5.36	4.01	−1.36 pts
75	Kuwait	3.49	2.18	−1.31 pts
76	French Polynesia	13	11.7	−1.3 pts
77	Singapore	4.1	2.82	−1.28 pts
78	West Bank and Gaza	25.7	24.4	−1.26 pts
79	Korea, Rep.	3.93	2.68	−1.25 pts
80	Liberia	4.1	2.88	−1.22 pts
81	Timor-Leste	2.81	1.59	−1.22 pts
82	Egypt, Arab Rep.	7.97	6.78	−1.19 pts
83	Mongolia	6.41	5.23	−1.18 pts
84	Lao PDR	2.35	1.19	−1.16 pts
85	Nicaragua	6.18	5.04	−1.14 pts
86	Suriname	8.97	7.83	−1.14 pts
87	Gabon	21.3	20.2	−1.13 pts
88	Burkina Faso	4.59	3.48	−1.11 pts
89	Uganda	3.82	2.75	−1.07 pts
90	Dominican Republic	6.13	5.09	−1.03 pts
91	Indonesia	4.26	3.24	−1.02 pts
92	Ireland	5.62	4.63	−0.991 pts
93	Congo, Dem. Rep.	5.36	4.43	−0.921 pts
94	Maldives	5.42	4.51	−0.906 pts
95	Libya	19.7	18.8	−0.893 pts
96	Trinidad and Tobago	4.21	3.33	−0.877 pts
97	Guinea	6.01	5.16	−0.844 pts
98	Malaysia	4.54	3.76	−0.776 pts
99	Mauritania	11.1	10.3	−0.732 pts
100	Albania	11.6	10.9	−0.713 pts

Showing the top 100 of 156. Premium downloads the full list as CSV or JSON.

About the top 10

#1 St. Lucia

St. Lucia ranks #1 on this list with −15.8 pts.

Capital: Castries
Continent: North America
Income group: Upper middle income
Population: 180,150 people (2025)
GDP: US$2.66 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$14,746 (2025)
Life expectancy: 72.8 years (2024)
Urban population: 29.1% of population (2025)

Also ranks #9 in homicide rate · #9 in immunisation (dpt) rate · #13 in population ages 15-64 share.

Full country profile

#2 Costa Rica

Costa Rica ranks #2 on this list with −9.59 pts.

Capital: San José
Continent: North America
Income group: High income
Population: 5.15 million people (2025)
GDP: US$102.9 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$19,970 (2025)
Life expectancy: 81 years (2024)
Urban population: 79.7% of population (2025)

Also ranks #3 in immunisation (dpt) rate · #4 in fertiliser consumption · #8 in women in parliament share.

Full country profile

#3 Brazil

Brazil ranks #3 on this list with −7.73 pts.

Capital: Brasília
Continent: South America
Income group: Upper middle income
Population: 212.81 million people (2025)
GDP: US$2.28 trillion (2025)
GDP per person: US$10,713 (2025)
Life expectancy: 76 years (2024)
Urban population: 88.2% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Greater Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro.

Also ranks #1 in new businesses registered · #2 in forest area · #3 in external debt stocks.

Full country profile

#4 Colombia

Colombia ranks #4 on this list with −7.69 pts.

Capital: Bogotá
Continent: South America
Income group: Upper middle income
Population: 53.43 million people (2025)
GDP: US$457.41 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$8,562 (2025)
Life expectancy: 77.9 years (2024)
Urban population: 78.8% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Bogotá, Medellín, Cali.

Also ranks #1 in income share of richest 10% · #1 in gini index · #4 in women in ministerial positions share.

Full country profile

#5 Greece

Greece ranks #5 on this list with −7.36 pts.

Capital: Athens
Continent: Europe
Income group: High income
Population: 10.41 million people (2025)
GDP: US$280.64 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$26,948 (2025)
Life expectancy: 81.8 years (2024)
Urban population: 79.2% of population (2025)

Also ranks #1 in school enrolment (tertiary) · #4 in physicians per 1,000 · #6 in population ages 65+ share.

Full country profile Weather in Athens (Purr Weather)

#6 Panama

Panama ranks #6 on this list with −6.3 pts.

Capital: Panama City
Continent: North America
Income group: High income
Population: 4.57 million people (2025)
GDP: US$90.46 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$19,790 (2025)
Life expectancy: 79.8 years (2024)
Urban population: 66.2% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Panama City.

Also ranks #7 in gini index · #8 in income share of richest 10% · #15 in gross capital formation rate.

Full country profile

#7 Honduras

Honduras ranks #7 on this list with −6.06 pts.

Capital: Tegucigalpa
Continent: North America
Income group: Lower middle income
Population: 11.01 million people (2025)
GDP: US$39.6 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$3,598 (2025)
Life expectancy: 73 years (2024)
Urban population: 59.3% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Tegucigalpa.

Also ranks #6 in deposit interest rate · #10 in gini index · #11 in homicide rate.

Full country profile

#8 Sudan

Sudan ranks #8 on this list with −5.47 pts.

Capital: Khartoum
Continent: Africa
Income group: Low income
Population: 51.66 million people (2025)
GDP: US$60.16 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$1,165 (2025)
Life expectancy: 66.5 years (2024)
Urban population: 34.9% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Khartoum, Omdurman.

Also ranks #2 in inflation rate · #4 in children out of school (primary) · #5 in refugee population by origin.

Full country profile

#9 Armenia

Armenia ranks #9 on this list with −5.3 pts.

Capital: Yerevan
Continent: Asia
Income group: Upper middle income
Population: 3.09 million people (2025)
GDP: US$29.24 billion (2025)
GDP per person: US$9,474 (2025)
Life expectancy: 78.3 years (2024)
Urban population: 65.9% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Yerevan.

Also ranks #5 in electricity access rate · #5 in access to electricity (rural) · #7 in female population share.

Full country profile

#10 Spain

Spain ranks #10 on this list with −5.16 pts.

Capital: Madrid
Continent: Europe
Income group: High income
Population: 49.36 million people (2025)
GDP: US$1.91 trillion (2025)
GDP per person: US$38,627 (2025)
Life expectancy: 83.9 years (2024)
Urban population: 80.5% of population (2025)

Largest cities: Madrid city, Barcelona, City of Valencia.

Also ranks #7 in female life expectancy · #7 in government debt share of gdp · #8 in tourism arrivals.

Full country profile Weather in Madrid (Purr Weather)

Profile facts: World Bank (CC BY 4.0) and Wikidata (CC0); weather links go to Purr Weather, another ChowChow Labs site.

Source and method

Change in Unemployment rate over the five years to each country's latest year, in points (a share or rate is not shown as a % of itself). Only countries that fell are listed.

Source: The World Bank, indicator SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS. Licence: CC BY 4.0. Retrieved: 2026-11-14.

The World Bank: Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) (modeled ILO estimate): ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO) (via World Development Indicators)

Original data provider, as recorded by the World Bank: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).

Values are shown as published (changes are computed from the published values). Provider terms: The World Bank. All licences: Sources & licences.

Summary

Full ranking

About the top 10

#1 St. Lucia

#2 Costa Rica

#3 Brazil

#4 Colombia

#5 Greece

#6 Panama

#7 Honduras

#8 Sudan

#9 Armenia

#10 Spain

Related rankings

Source and method