World: in 31 of the 41 poorest countries unemployment is higher among people with a degree than with basic education; in the richest, in 6 of 40
Adults aged 25+, the latest survey of 2015–2025 in 162 countries. The richer the country, the rarer a degree «loses» (rank correlation with income per person −0.54). There are exceptions on both sides: Singapore and Qatar among the rich, Niger and Malawi among the poor.
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In rich countries a university degree almost always means a lower risk of unemployment. In poor ones more often the reverse: there are more unemployed among people with a degree. Unemployment counts only those looking for work; whoever works at anything going or is not looking is outside it. In all, 73 of 162 countries.
Bars: the share of countries where adult unemployment is higher with a degree than with basic education. Countries are split into four equal groups by GDP per person (at purchasing power parity).
- Countries where unemployment with a degree is higher, by income quarter countries
31 / 41; 27 / 40; 9 / 41; 6 / 40
ILO, ILOSTAT: national surveys · CC BY 4.0; World Bank: GDP per person
- Singapore: unemployment 25+, advanced / basic (2025) % of labour force
3.2 / 2.7
- Qatar: unemployment 25+, advanced / basic (2020) % of labour force
0.2 / 0.0
- Niger: unemployment 25+, advanced / basic (2017) % of labour force
4.7 / 5.5
- Malawi: unemployment 25+, advanced / basic (2024) % of labour force
9.3 / 13.8
ILO, ILOSTAT, UNE_DEAP_SEX_AGE_EDU_RT_A: unemployment aged 25+, both sexes, from national surveys (not ILO modelled estimates); for each country the latest year of 2015–2025 with both levels and no «unreliable» flag. Levels are the ILO aggregate: basic up to lower secondary, advanced tertiary. GDP per person at PPP (World Bank) of the same year or the nearest within two years. The association is Spearman's rank correlation of GDP and the unemployment ratio advanced / basic.
Group bounds by GDP per person: 1,028–6,726, 6,769–18,108, 18,779–42,358, 42,577–139,593 dollars. Survey years differ, education classifications are national. The data show where this happens, not why: the share of graduates, informal work and survey methods differ between countries.
A question for this picture
Do people with a degree in poor countries work less often?