This statistic shows the youth unemployment rate as a share of the total labor force in the European Union and the Euro area from 2011 to 2024. The figures refer to those younger than 25 years. In 2024, the youth unemployment rate in the EU was 14.9 percent.

France - Unemployment rate: From 15 to 24 years was 18.70% in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for France - Unemployment rate: From 15 to 24 years - last updated from the EUROSTAT on November of 2025. Historically, France - Unemployment rate: From 15 to 24 years reached a record high of 24.70% in December of 2015 and a record low of 17.20% in December of 2023.

Since 2015, the unemployment rate of young French men and women has been steadily decreasing. While the 2008 economic crisis caused financial troubles in all EU member states, impacting companies and banks, studies have shown that the lack of follow-up and the absence of options for young people without diplomas are some of the main causes of youth unemployment in France. Younger generations are more affected by unemployment The global unemployment rate of the country increased from 2011 to 2016, and it went down to around *** percent by 2024. However, in recent years, younger generations seemed to be particularly affected by unemployment in France, while the percentage of the working population is decreasing in the country. The issue of unemployment in France France has one of the highest unemployment rates in the European Union. Workers seem to be more affected by unemployment compared to employees or managers, while long-term unemployment is more prevalent among the older generations. Thus, for years, the French government has been trying to find solutions to curb the rise in unemployment. The average monthly gross amount of benefits increased slightly since 2011, while the country spent more than ** million euros on work and employment, which was only the government’s ninth spending area that year.

Romania - Unemployment rate was 6.10% in June of 2025, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Romania - Unemployment rate - last updated from the EUROSTAT on December of 2025. Historically, Romania - Unemployment rate reached a record high of 9.20% in December of 2011 and a record low of 4.90% in December of 2019.

The unemployment rate of the United Kingdom was five percent in September 2025, up from 4.8 percent in the previous month, and the highest rate of unemployment since 2021. Before the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK had relatively low levels of unemployment. Between January 2000 and the most recent month, unemployment was highest in November 2011, when the unemployment rate hit 8.5 percent. Will unemployment continue to rise in 2025? Although low by historic standards, there has been a noticeable uptick in the UK's unemployment rate, with other labor market indicators also pointing to further loosening. In December 2024, the number of job vacancies in the UK fell to its lowest level since May 2021, while payrolled employment declined by 47,000 compared with November. Whether this is a continuation of a broader cooling of the labor market since 2022 or a reaction to more recent economic developments, such as upcoming tax rises for employers, remains to be seen. Forecasts made in late 2024 suggest that the unemployment rate will remain relatively stable in 2025, averaging out at 4.1 percent and falling again to four percent in 2026.
Demographics of the unemployed As of the third quarter of 2024, the unemployment rate for men was slightly higher than that of women, at 4.4 percent, compared to 4.1 percent. During the financial crisis at the end of the 2000s, the unemployment rate for women peaked at a quarterly rate of 7.7 percent, whereas for men, the rate was 9.1 percent. Unemployment is also heavily associated with age, and young people in general are far more vulnerable to unemployment than older age groups. In late 2011, for example, the unemployment rate for those aged between 16 and 24 reached 22.3 percent, compared with 8.2 percent for people aged 25 to 34, while older age groups had even lower peaks during this time.

In the third quarter of 2025, the unemployment rate in the United Kingdom was highest in Wales, where it was 5.7 percent, followed by England at 5.1 percent, Scotland at 3.7 percent, and 2.4 percent in Northern Ireland, the lowest rate among the four countries of the UK. For all four countries, the peak in unemployment during this period was in the early 2010s. England and Scotland's unemployment rates were highest in Q4 2011 at 8.4 percent and 8.6 percent respectively, with unemployment reaching 9.7 percent in Wales during Q3 2011. Northern Ireland reported its highest unemployment rate in Q1 of 2013 when it reached eight percent. Unemployment ticking up as UK enters 2025 For the United Kingdom as a whole, the unemployment rate was 4.4 percent in November 2024, the joint-highest rate recorded since August 2021. After reaching 8.5 percent in late 2011, unemployment in the UK fell quite consistently for several years, with this recovery interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw unemployment rise to 5.3 percent in late 2020 and early 2021. From this point onwards, however, the labor market bounced back, and was particular strong in 2022 when there were a record number of job vacancies and unemployment fell to as low as 3.6 percent. While the labor market cooled throughout 2023 and 2024, unemployment remained at historically low levels. Overall economy grows but GDP per head falls Throughout the whole of 2024, gross domestic product in the UK grew by 0.9 percent, but in the third quarter of the year, there was no economic growth, followed by the relatively weak growth rate of 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter. Furthermore, GDP per head in the UK, declined for a second-consecutive year, and was just 36,977 pounds in 2024, compared with 37,371 pounds in 2022. Inflation, meanwhile, has fallen from the peak of 11.1 percent in October 2022, but was still at the relatively high rate of 4 percent at the start of 2024, with this falling to 2.5 percent by the end of the year.

In June 2025, the youth unemployment rate in Italy was 21.5 percent. The problem of unemployment in Italy became critical in the first years of the financial crisis, which started in 2008. Although the labor market crisis seriously affected the entire Italian working population, it particularly impacted the youngest part of the labor force. Between 2008 and 2014, the share of unemployed individuals aged between 15 and 24 years increased by more than 15 percentage points. However, a steady decline has been observed since 2014, with youth unemployment dropping at around 20 percent in 2024. The effects of the 2011-2012 financial crisis: dream job versus harsh reality Newly graduated and often looking for a first job, young people are particularly vulnerable to stagnation in the labor market. Considering the difficulties in finding a job during and after the years of the financial crisis, about 48 percent of young Italians declared in 2018 that they would accept a job that does not meet their career aspirations. One-fourth of the respondents stated that they would accept a monthly salary of 500 euros. Youth unemployment rate in the EUItaly was the country with the ninth-highest youth unemployment rate among the EU member states in August 2023. The country with the highest youth unemployment was Estonia, where more than one out of four young individuals were unemployed.

This statistic shows the unemployment rate in Greece from 1999 to 2024. In 2024, the unemployment rate in Greece was around 10.13 percent. Today, Greece reports the highest unemployment rate of all EU states. Greece's financial situation Greece is a developed country with a high-income economy, whose primary industry revolves around tourism and shipping. Agriculture also plays an important role for the country’s economy, more specifically for the EU. Greece had experienced large amounts of economic growth from the 1950s to the 1970s, however was economically devastated by the Great Recession in 2009 as well its own government debt crisis. Since the early 2000s, small increases in national debt were present within the Greek economy. These small increases turned into rather substantial surges between 2008 and 2011, which resulted in a large amount of accumulated public debt. However, financial assistance from several countries around the world as well as stimulus packages from the EU were issued to Greece, with the hopes of structural adjustments in the government and better decision making within the country in order to decrease national debt and increase productivity. The financial assistance helped stabilize Greece’s debt over the past several years, however many countries are arguing just how useful this support is, mostly because Greece has not made significant strides to improve its economy. As a result, consumers have become less optimistic about the possibility of a short term economic recovery in Greece. Additionally, investors have remained hesitant on investing into the country, generally due to an increasing debt-to-GDP ratio, which is ranked atop all countries in the European Union. The so-called debt-to-GDP ratio is an important indicator of a country’s ability to pay back its debts without incurring further debt.

In 2010, unemployment rate in France reached a record level of 10.4 percent. Unemployment remains a rampant issue for French economy, being stagnant year-over-year since the financial and economical crisis in 2008. During the first quarter of 2018, more than 1.4 million people aged between 25 and 49 years were unemployed in France.

Change in unemployment since 2008

In 2008, year of the financial crisis, unemployment rate in France reached its lowest level since 2004. That year, France had an unemployment rate of 7.4 percent while, one year before it had reached 8 eight percent. Unemployment is an important economic factor for a country and a measure of a region’s economic health. Despite its low level in 2008, unemployment rate in France increased steadily between 2009 and 2016. In 2015, it even reached its highest level since the mid-2000s with a percentage of unemployed people among the French population which was of 10.4 percent. That year, unemployed people represented 11.5 percent of the urban population in France. However, French unemployment rate seemed to be experiencing improvements in recent years. In 2017, long-term employment rate decreased after several years of constant growth.

Unemployment in France and the EU

European markets were particularly affected by the 2008 global financial crisis and the recession which followed. Nevertheless, Unemployment rate in the EU reached 6.5 percent in January 2019, compared to 7.2 percent one year before and the number of unemployed persons in the European Union and the Euro area is declining since 2018. This improvement seems to be affecting France to a lesser extent. France was one of the EU members with the highest unemployment rate in 2019, and youth unemployment still reaches a record number in the country.