Unemployment rate of Iran 2023

This statistic shows the unemployment rate of Iran from 1999 to 2023. In 2023, Iran's unemployment rate was estimated to amount to 9.1 percent of the total labor force. 

Employment and economy in Iran

Iran’s unemployment rate has been above 10 percent for the last 10 years, and this rate is estimated to have peaked in 2014, when estimates reached 14 percent. Also, many of those who are considered employed in Iran are also considered underemployed. Unemployment in Iran is especially high among young people and women; over 70 percent of the population’s close to 80 million inhabitants are of working age, increasing the overall demand of these inhabitants for work.

Iran’s economy has also been in a recession, which has exacerbated the difficulties to meet the employment demands of its inhabitants. Although the economy is expected to recover slightly in 2014, Iran's GDP is expected to decrease and the real GDP growth rate is either negative or quite low.

In times of a struggling economy, it is typically more difficult to create jobs and introduce people to the labor force. Because Iran's economic activity still depends to a large extent on oil revenues, this also reduces the stability of the economy and employment. With a decreasing per capita GDP and a high inflation rate people are also more vulnerable to changes in income and employment, making the unemployment a pressing issue that the country will have to manage.