Thailand: A Country with the Lowest Unemployment Rate in the World

According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) projection, Thailand's unemployment rate in 2024 is only 1.1%.

This makes Thailand the country with the lowest unemployment rate in the world.

Other countries with low unemployment rates include Andorra, Singapore, Macau, Vietnam, Switzerland, Japan, Malta, Czechia, and Hong Kong, as shown in the graph.

However, low unemployment rates do not necessarily reflect a good economic condition, especially in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), low unemployment in the Asia-Pacific region is often linked to weak social protection systems that do not provide unemployment benefits.

"Low unemployment rates in the Asia-Pacific generally imply that most people cannot afford to be unemployed," the ILO stated in the *Asia-Pacific Employment and Social Outlook 2022*.

"If they lose their jobs, they will seek available new jobs, usually informal jobs characterized by low income, instability, and lack of social protection," it continued.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) echoed this sentiment in its study, *Labour market structure and wage dynamics in Thailand* (March 2023).

According to the study, Thailand's low unemployment rate is influenced by high demand for low-skilled workers, a flexible labor market, slow wage growth, and low worker bargaining power.