La Alegría, Barrio Nuevo, and San Pío X in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, along with Jinámar and El Lasso in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, have been identified as the neighbourhoods with the highest unemployment rates in the Canary Islands, all exceeding 25%, according to data from the Canary Islands' Statistics Institute (Istac) for the third quarter of 2026.
Conversely, the areas with the lowest unemployment rates include El Cable (1.6%) and La Concha (3.2%) in Arrecife, Ciudad del Mar (6.1%) and La Minilla (5.5%) in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Playa de las Américas (6.6%) and Chayofa (6.8%) in Arona, as well as Las Mimosas (4.6%) and Los Hoteles (5.7%) in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
Municipal unemployment trends
At the municipal level, Yaiza and Pájara are noted as the municipalities with the lowest registered unemployment rates in the Canary Islands for the third quarter of 2026. The islands of Lanzarote and Fuerteventura, to which these municipalities belong, boast unemployment rates below 9%.
This quarter, La Gomera has seen its unemployment rate drop below 10%, with Alajeró making its debut on the list of the five municipalities with the lowest unemployment in the Canary Islands. Leading the list is Yaiza, with a rate of 5.5%, followed by Pájara (5.7%), Tías (6.7%), Alajeró (6.8%), and Teguise (6.9%).
Areas with high unemployment rates
In contrast, La Palma (14.5%) and Gran Canaria (14%) have the highest recorded unemployment rates among the islands. At the municipal level, Garafía (22.5%) has the highest unemployment rate, followed by Tazacorte (19.4%), Agaete (18.2%), Moya (18.1%), and La Victoria de Acentejo (16.6%).
Gender disparities in unemployment
Data disaggregated by sex shows that in the third quarter of 2026, unemployment rates for women are higher than those for men across the territory, with the exception of El Hierro, where the rates are nearly equal. The largest disparities are observed in Gran Canaria, with a difference of 4.4 percentage points, followed by La Palma with 4.3 points and Tenerife with 4.1 points.
Employment growth and trends
In comparison to the previous year, the number of registered employed individuals has increased across all islands, with an average annual employment growth rate of 3.3% in the Canary Islands. Fuerteventura and Lanzarote experienced the highest annual employment growth at 5.4% each, while La Palma saw the least growth at 1.3%.
On the other hand, registered unemployment in the Canary Islands has decreased by 3.8% over the past year, with declines observed in all islands except El Hierro, where it rose by 6%, and La Palma, which saw a 1% increase compared to the third quarter of 2025.
