Highest unemployment rates in Spain by province 2024

The autonomous city of Ceuta topped the list of the Spanish provinces with the highest unemployment rate as of the second quarter of 2024, with an unemployment rate of 29.6 percent, followed by the autonomous city of Melilla with 27.93 percent. As can be observed in the chart, the southern regions of Spain, as well as Canary Islands, are greatly affected by this phenomenon. In fact, the largest southern region, Andalusia, has a long history of unemployment difficulties, with seven of its eight provinces represented on this list and historical data that records unemployment figures of over 18 percent in the last years.

The national unemployment figures have improved significantly over the last few years after a sharp increase caused by the 2008 financial crisis, which launched the country to rates of approximately 26 percent in 2014 up from a record low of 8 percent in 2006.