Labour underutilisation rate

Eastern Europe dominates labour efficiency while Mediterranean nations struggle with one in four workers underutilised.

OECDUpdated Dec '25

Summary

Least underutilisation

1Czechia
3.2 %
2Slovenia
5.9 %
3Poland
6.2 %
4Germany
6.6 %
5Hungary
6.7 %
Dataset Median
10.8 %

Most underutilised

31Chile
23.8 %
32Spain
24.4 %
33Greece
25.1 %
34Italy
25.1 %
35Costa Rica
30.2 %

Gap

9.5x

Costa Rica vs Czechia: 9.5x gap

Leader

Top 5

Eastern Europe dominates top 5

Outlier

3.18%

Czechia leads at 3.18%

Data

35 results

1Czechia3.2 %
2Slovenia5.9 %
3Poland6.2 %
4Germany6.6 %
5Hungary6.7 %
6United States7.2 %
7United Kingdom8.1 %
8Lithuania8.4 %
9Slovakia8.4 %
10Netherlands8.5 %

Map

Labour underutilisation rate

30.2 %
3.2 %

Insights

Generated automatically using AI

Gap

9.5x

Costa Rica's underutilisation rate is 9.5x higher than Czechia's

Leader

Top 5

Eastern European nations claim 4 of the top 5 positions globally

Outlier

3.18%

Czechia achieves the world's lowest rate at just 3.18%

Trend

20%+

Eight countries struggle with underutilisation rates above 20%

Cluster

25.1%

Mediterranean trio Spain, Greece, and Italy cluster around 25%

Methodology

This dataset is sourced from the OECD through its official SDMX data service.
Rankdat does not alter or model the underlying values — we only clean formats, standardize country names, and reshape the data for visualization.

OECD compiles these indicators from a mix of sources including national statistical offices, international household surveys (such as Gallup World Poll, EU-SILC, ISSP), and harmonised administrative datasets.
Each indicator follows the definitions and structure specified in the OECD’s Data Structure Definition (DSD) for this dataflow.

Because indicators originate from different countries and surveys, collection years, sampling methods, and questionnaire wording may vary. OECD applies harmonisation rules to improve comparability, but differences in national methodology may still affect cross-country comparisons.

Full definitions, data collection notes, and quality documentation are available through the OECD metadata portal linked in the Sources section.

Source