What you should know about this indicator
- This indicator shows how national and modeled unemployment rate estimates from the International Labour Organization (ILO) compare for each country. It indicates whether the ILO used the same value for national and modeled estimates, a different value, or if the data is only available in one of these datasets. This is obtained by calculating the absolute difference between the two estimates for each country and year. A difference of less than 0.1 percentage points is considered to be the same value.
- A few countries — such as Ukraine, Palestine, and Sudan in recent years — have no published modeled estimates. This usually happens when comparable national data cannot be obtained, or when the ILO considers modeled estimates unreliable, for example, during conflict or major disruption.
- The comparison stops before the most recent year for which both sources publish data. The ILO's modeled estimates run ahead of reported data, and in those projected years they differ from national estimates simply because no survey result has been incorporated into the model yet — not because the two sources disagree about what happened.
- Even in years built on real observations, the two sources can differ. The ILO adjusts national figures to a common definition before they enter its modeled series, so a country's published headline rate and the ILO's harmonized version of it are not always identical.
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Sources and processing
This data is based on the following sources
How we process data at Our World in Data
All data and visualizations on Our World in Data rely on data sourced from one or several original data providers. Preparing this original data involves several processing steps. Depending on the data, this can include standardizing country names and world region definitions, converting units, calculating derived indicators such as per capita measures, as well as adding or adapting metadata such as the name or the description given to an indicator.
At the link below you can find a detailed description of the structure of our data pipeline, including links to all the code used to prepare data across Our World in Data.
Notes on our processing step for this indicator
We derive this indicator by calculating the absolute difference between the ILO modeled estimates and the national estimates for unemployment rate in each country and year. If the absolute difference is less than 0.1 percentage points, we consider the estimates to be the same value. If the absolute difference is 0.1 percentage points or more, we classify it as a different value. If data is only available in one of the datasets, we indicate that as well.
We restrict the comparison to years in which the ILO's modeled estimates are built on real observations. The modeled series extends a few years beyond the latest reported data, and in those projected years it differs from national estimates by construction. We identify them from the data: in years based on real observations, most countries' modeled and national values match exactly, and that share collapses once the modeled series becomes a projection. We drop the most recent years where it falls below 40% of the level seen in earlier years, and stop at the first year that clears it.
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Citations
How to cite this page
To cite this page overall, including any descriptions, FAQs or explanations of the data authored by Our World in Data, please use the following citation:
“Data Page: Availability of unemployment estimates by source”. Our World in Data (2026). Data adapted from ILO Modelled Estimates, via World Bank, Labour Force Statistics, via World Bank. Retrieved from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260729-153957/grapher/availability-of-unemployment-estimates-by-source-ilo.html [online resource] (archived on July 29, 2026).How to cite this data
In-line citationIf you have limited space (e.g. in data visualizations), you can use this abbreviated in-line citation:
ILO Modelled Estimates, via World Bank (2026); Labour Force Statistics, via World Bank (2026) – with major processing by Our World in DataFull citation
ILO Modelled Estimates, via World Bank (2026); Labour Force Statistics, via World Bank (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. “Availability of unemployment estimates by source” [dataset]. ILO Modelled Estimates, via World Bank, “World Development Indicators 129”; Labour Force Statistics, via World Bank, “World Development Indicators 129” [original data]. Retrieved August 5, 2026 from https://archive.ourworldindata.org/20260729-153957/grapher/availability-of-unemployment-estimates-by-source-ilo.html (archived on July 29, 2026).Download
Quick download
Download the data shown in this chart as a ZIP file containing a CSV file, metadata in JSON format, and a README. The CSV file can be opened in Excel, Google Sheets, and other data analysis tools.
Data API
Use these URLs to programmatically access this chart's data and configure your requests with the options below. Our documentation provides more information on how to use the API, and you can find a few code examples below.
Data URL (CSV format)
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/availability-of-unemployment-estimates-by-source-ilo.csv?v=1&csvType=full&useColumnShortNames=falseMetadata URL (JSON format)
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/availability-of-unemployment-estimates-by-source-ilo.metadata.json?v=1&csvType=full&useColumnShortNames=falseExcel / Google Sheets
=IMPORTDATA("https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/availability-of-unemployment-estimates-by-source-ilo.csv?v=1&csvType=full&useColumnShortNames=false")Python with Pandas
import pandas as pd
import requests
# Fetch the data.
df = pd.read_csv("https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/availability-of-unemployment-estimates-by-source-ilo.csv?v=1&csvType=full&useColumnShortNames=false", storage_options = {'User-Agent': 'Our World In Data data fetch/1.0'})
# Fetch the metadata
metadata = requests.get("https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/availability-of-unemployment-estimates-by-source-ilo.metadata.json?v=1&csvType=full&useColumnShortNames=false").json()R
library(jsonlite)
# Fetch the data
df <- read.csv("https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/availability-of-unemployment-estimates-by-source-ilo.csv?v=1&csvType=full&useColumnShortNames=false")
# Fetch the metadata
metadata <- fromJSON("https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/availability-of-unemployment-estimates-by-source-ilo.metadata.json?v=1&csvType=full&useColumnShortNames=false")Stata
import delimited "https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/availability-of-unemployment-estimates-by-source-ilo.csv?v=1&csvType=full&useColumnShortNames=false", encoding("utf-8") clear