The gap between Southeast Asia’s lowest and highest unemployment rates is wide, with one country reporting less than 1% while others are above 4%.
The figures in this article come from the ASEAN Secretariat’s ASEAN Key Figures 2025 report, and use each country’s latest available year, from 2021 to 2024.
They are meant to give a general picture of unemployment in the region, not a like-for-like ranking, and they may differ from the most recent figures published by national statistics agencies.
Cambodia Leads the Region
Cambodia had an unemployment rate of 0.7% in 2023, the lowest in the region. That is up slightly from 0.1% in 2015, but it still sits well below every other country in the report.
Thailand was next at 1.0% in 2024, and Viet Nam followed at 2.0%. Singapore reported 2.8%. Malaysia’s rate was 3.2% in 2024. Myanmar reported 3.7% in 2023, a sharp rise from 0.8% in 2015.
The Rest of the Region
The Philippines reported 3.8% in 2024, while Brunei Darussalam stood at 4.8% and Indonesia at 4.9%.
Between 2015 and the latest available year, unemployment fell in several economies. Brunei Darussalam’s rate dropped from 6.9% to 4.8%, Indonesia’s from 6.2% to 4.9%, the Philippines’ from 6.3% to 3.8%, and Lao PDR’s from 3.6% to 2.4%. Singapore’s held steady at 2.8%.
Not every country has recent data. Lao PDR’s latest figure is 2.4% from 2022, and Timor-Leste’s is 5.1% from 2021.
The table below shows the latest available figure for each country:
| Country | Unemployment rate | Data year |
|---|---|---|
| Cambodia | 0.7% | 2023 |
| Thailand | 1.0% | 2024 |
| Viet Nam | 2.0% | 2024 |
| Lao PDR | 2.4% | 2022 |
| Singapore | 2.8% | 2024 |
| Malaysia | 3.2% | 2024 |
| Myanmar | 3.7% | 2023 |
| Philippines | 3.8% | 2024 |
| Brunei Darussalam | 4.8% | 2024 |
| Indonesia | 4.9% | 2024 |
| Timor-Leste | 5.1% | 2021 |
What a Low Unemployment Rate Leaves Out
A low unemployment rate looks like a sign of a healthy job market, but the indicator is narrower than it seems.
The report defines unemployment as the share of the working-age population that has no job but is actively looking for one. People who are out of work and not searching are not counted.
That leaves a lot unmeasured. The rate alone doesn’t show whether workers earn enough, whether their jobs are stable, or whether conditions are decent. So Cambodia’s 0.7% is striking, but it isn’t proof that the country has the region’s strongest employment conditions.
A fuller picture needs other indicators, such as labour-force participation, income levels and job quality. Lao PDR shows why. Between 2015 and 2022, its unemployment rate fell from 3.6% to 2.4%, yet its participation rate dropped from 68.0% to 47.1%.
Cambodia sits at the other end, with the lowest unemployment rate and the region’s highest participation rate, 83.7% in 2022, up from 82.7% in 2015. Timor-Leste recorded the region’s lowest participation at 35.9% in 2022.
Jobs are also spread very differently across sectors, so the same unemployment rate can describe quite different labour markets.
In Cambodia (2019 data), employment is split almost evenly between agriculture (33.1%), industry (33.4%) and services (33.5%). In Lao PDR (57.5% in 2022) and Myanmar (48.9% in 2019), agriculture remains the main source of jobs.
Cambodia, Thailand and Viet Nam report the lowest unemployment in the region, all at 2% or lower, but the rate alone says little about the work behind it.
Reference
ASEAN Secretariat. (2025). ASEAN key figures 2025. ASEANstats. https://www.aseanstats.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/ASEAN-KEY-Figures-2025_447.pdf
