Looking Only at the Unemployment Rate, Japan Ranks Fairly High
The World Bank’s World Development Indicators (WDI) include unemployment rates for 187 countries and regions. The latest global figure is 4.79%, while Japan’s is 2.45%. Ranked from lowest to highest, Japan comes 24th out of 187 countries and regions.
The top three are Qatar (0.13%), Cambodia (0.26%), and Niger (0.39%). At the other end are Eswatini (34.20%), South Africa (32.39%), and Djibouti (26.02%), a gap of more than 260 times between the highest and lowest figures. Looking only at this indicator, Japan would be classified as a country where “few people are unable to find work.”
Yet Japan Ranks 80th in Labor Force Participation, Barely Different from the Global Figure
Looking at the labor force participation rate in the same dataset—the percentage of the population aged 15 and over that is working or looking for work—Japan stands at 63.45%, ranking 80th out of 187 countries and regions. This is only slightly above the global figure of 60.98%, considerably different from Japan’s position when measured by unemployment rate.
The top three are Qatar (87.01%), Madagascar (85.50%), and the Solomon Islands (84.30%). At the bottom are São Tomé and Príncipe (23.34%), Djibouti (31.74%), and Yemen (33.10%).
Because the unemployment rate is the percentage of people who want to work and are looking for a job but cannot find one, those who are not looking for work are included in neither the denominator nor the numerator. A low unemployment rate without a high labor force participation rate can result not only from “finding work quickly,” but also from “a certain number of people not looking for work in the first place.” Only by looking at both indicators together can we see the labor market as a whole.
Forms of Employment Are Highly Institutionalized Even by Global Standards
Among employed people, the percentage who work under employment contracts and receive wages or salaries—the share of wage and salaried workers—stands at 90.95% in Japan, ranking 17th. The global figure is 53.59%, nearly 40 percentage points lower.
The top three are Qatar (99.17%), Bahrain (97.56%), and Kuwait (96.84%). At the bottom are Chad (8.44%), Niger (10.52%), and Sierra Leone (11.19%), meaning that countries do exist where more than 90% of employed people are self-employed or contributing family workers. Globally, working for an employer is still only “half” of all forms of employment.
Japan’s high ranking reflects less whether its labor market is well developed than whether its industrial structure has moved away from being centered on agriculture.
The Gender Gap Ranks 102nd out of 187 Countries, Below the Middle
In the ratio of women’s labor force participation rate to men’s—the closer the figure is to 100, the smaller the gender gap—Japan stands at 78.21%, ranking 102nd. Although this exceeds the global figure of 69.62%, Japan ranks below the middle.
The top three are Burundi (103.28%), Moldova (100.12%), and Benin (96.91%), where women’s participation rates equal or exceed those of men. At the bottom are Afghanistan (7.29%), Yemen (7.62%), and Iraq (15.07%).
Here again, countries that rank near the top are not necessarily “easy places to work.” In economies centered on agriculture or self-employment, participation rates tend to be high for both men and women. Ranking countries by just one of unemployment rate, participation rate, or the gender ratio compares them while mixing together stages of economic development and the quality of work.
The Share of Employment in Industry Is Almost the Same as the Global Figure
The percentage of employed people working in industry—including manufacturing, construction, and mining—is 23.23% in Japan, ranking 54th. This is almost the same as the global figure of 23.66%, placing Japan near the average on this indicator. The top three are Oman (39.44%), Qatar (38.02%), and Bahrain (34.91%), while the bottom three are South Sudan (1.67%), Burundi (3.10%), and Timor-Leste (3.80%).
Despite the impression of Japan as a “manufacturing nation,” its share of employment by industry places it in the middle of the global rankings. The size of an industry and the share of people working in it are separate matters.
What Becomes Visible When the Five Indicators Are Set Side by Side
Japan’s position shifts substantially depending on the indicator.
| Indicator | Japan’s figure | Rank (total) |
| Unemployment rate | 2.45% | 24th (187) |
| Share of wage and salaried workers | 90.95% | 17th (187) |
| Share of employment in industry | 23.23% | 54th (187) |
| Labor force participation rate | 63.45% | 80th (187) |
| Female labor force participation rate (relative to men) | 78.21% | 102nd (187) |
Japan ranks near the top in “whether people are employed” and “whether they can work as employees,” but falls in the middle to lower ranks in “how many people participate in the labor market” and “how large the gender gap is.” The labor market cannot be described by a single ranking because these four indicators measure different things.
When comparing countries, looking not only at what rank a country holds for each indicator but also at how much its ranking shifts between indicators provides a better picture of the shape of its labor market.
Sources
- Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) (World Bank World Development Indicators SL.UEM.TOTL.ZS)
- Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15+) (same source, SL.TLF.CACT.ZS)
- Wage and salaried workers, total (% of total employment) (same source, SL.EMP.WORK.ZS)
- Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) (same source, SL.TLF.CACT.FM.ZS)
- Employment in industry (% of total employment) (same source, SL.IND.EMPL.ZS)
All figures are based on the latest year available for each indicator (2025).