This dataset provides values for UNEMPLOYMENT RATE reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

Among European Union countries in March 2025, Spain had the highest unemployment rate at 10.9 percent, followed by Finland at 9.4 percent. By contrast, Czechia has the lowest unemployment rate in Europe, at 2.6 percent. The overall rate of unemployment in the European Union was 5.8 percent in the same month - a historical low-point for unemployment in the EU, which had been at over 10 percent for much of the 2010s.

The statistic reflects the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in member states of the European Union in November 2024. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Spain in November 2024 was 11.2 percent.The unemployment rate represents the share of the unemployed in all potential employees available to the job market. Unemployment rates in the EU The unemployment rate is an important measure of a country or region’s economic health, and despite unemployment levels in the European Union falling slightly from a peak in early 2013 , they remain high, especially in comparison to what the rates were before the worldwide recession started in 2008. This confirms the continuing stagnation in European markets, which hits young job seekers particularly hard as they struggle to compete against older, more experienced workers for a job, suffering under jobless rates twice as high as general unemployment. Some companies, such as Microsoft and Fujitsu, have created thousands of jobs in some of the countries which have particularly dire unemployment rates, creating a beacon of hope. However, some industries such as information technology, face the conundrum of a deficit of qualified workers in the local unemployed work force, and have to hire workers from abroad instead of helping decrease the local unemployment rates. This skills mismatch has no quick solution, as workers require time for retraining to fill the openings in the growing science-, technology-, or engineering-based jobs, and too few students choose degrees that would help them obtain these positions. Worldwide unemployment also remains high, with the rates being worst in the Middle East and North Africa. Estimates by the International Labour Organization predict that the problem will stabilize in coming years, but not improve until at least 2017.

This dataset provides values for UNEMPLOYMENT RATE reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

The statistic shows the seasonally adjusted youth unemployment rate in EU member states as of November 2024. The source defines youth unemployment as unemployment of those younger than 25 years. In November 2024, the seasonally adjusted youth unemployment rate in Spain was at 26.6 percent. Youth unemployment rate in EU member states Unemployment is a crucial economic factor for a country; youth unemployment is often examined separately because it tends to be higher than unemployment in older age groups. It comprises the unemployment figures of a country’s labor force aged 15 to 24 years old (i.e. the earliest point at which mandatory school education ends). Typically, teenagers and those in their twenties who are fresh out of education do not find jobs right away, especially if the country’s economy is experiencing difficulties, as can be seen above. Additionally, it also tends to be higher in emerging markets than in industrialized nations. Worldwide, youth unemployment figures have not changed significantly over the last decade, nor are they expected to improve in the next few years. Youth unemployment is most prevalent in the Middle East and North Africa, even though these regions report high unemployment figures regardless (Zimbabwe and Turkmenistan are among the countries with the highest unemployment rates in the world, for example), and are also highly populated areas with a rather weak infrastructure, compared to industrialized regions. In the European Union and the euro area, unemployment in general has been on the rise since 2008, which is due to the economic crisis which caused bankruptcy and financial trouble for many employers, and thus led to considerable job loss, less job offerings, and consequently, to a rise of the unemployment rate. Older workers are struggling to find new jobs despite their experience, and young graduates are struggling to find new jobs, because they have none. All in all, the number of unemployed persons worldwide is projected to rise, this is not down to the economic crisis alone, but also the industrial automation of processes previously performed by workers, as well as rising population figures.

This dataset provides values for YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT RATE reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

As of June 2024, Spain had the highest youth unemployment rate in Europe, at 25.8 percent, with Sweden having the second-highest youth unemployment rate as of this month, at 23.8 percent. Across the 27 member states of the European Union, the overall youth unemployment rate was 14.6 percent, with Germany having the lowest youth unemployment rate of 6.8 percent.

Key information about EU Unemployment Rate

• EU Unemployment Rate remained the same at 5.80% in Jan 2025, from the previously reported figure of 5.80% in Dec 2024.
• EU Unemployment Rate is updated monthly, available from Jan 2000 to Jan 2025, with an average rate of 9.30%.
• The data reached an all-time high of 11.70% in May 2013 and a record low of 5.80% in Jan 2025.
• The data is reported by reported by Eurostat.
• In the latest reports, EU Population reached 449.31 million people in Dec 2023.

In 2024, ****************** had the lowest unemployment rate among Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, at *** percent and *** percent, respectively. On the other hand, the highest unemployment rate was recorded in Estonia and Lithuania. The average unemployment rate in all European Union member states amounted to *** percent in this period.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate: Aged 15-64: All Persons for the Euro Area (19 Countries) (LRUN64TTEZA156N) from 2005 to 2022 about 15 to 64 years, Euro Area, Europe, unemployment, and rate.

Graph and download economic data for Youth Unemployment Rate for Developing Countries in Europe and Central Asia (SLUEM1524ZSECA) from 1991 to 2024 about Central Asia, Europe, unemployment, and rate.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate: Aged 15-74: Females for the Euro Area (19 Countries) (LRUN74FEEZQ156N) from Q1 1993 to Q4 2022 about 15 to 74 years, females, Euro Area, Europe, unemployment, and rate.

This dataset provides values for LONG TERM UNEMPLOYMENT RATE reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

EU Unemployment Rate: Euro Area data was reported at 8.000 % in Jun 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 8.200 % for May 2018. EU Unemployment Rate: Euro Area data is updated monthly, averaging 9.000 % from Jan 1983 (Median) to Jun 2018, with 426 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 12.700 % in Feb 2013 and a record low of 7.200 % in Jul 2008. EU Unemployment Rate: Euro Area data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Eurostat. The data is categorized under Global Database’s EU – Table EU.G010: Eurostat: Unemployment Rate.

In 2023, the unemployment rate of Europe's five largest economies ranged from 3.3 percent in Germany, to 12.1 percent in Spain. Throughout this provided time period, unemployment has consistently been lowest in Germany, and with the exception of 2005, 2006, and 2007, highest in Spain, when Germany briefly had a higher unemployment rate.

At a rate of 11.27 percent in the second quarter of 2024, Spain was one of the countries with the highest unemployment rates in the European Union. As of the third quarter of 2005, the unemployment rate in Spain was at roughly 8.4 percent, the lowest recorded in the period under consideration. However, a few years later, by the third quarter of 2009, it had more than doubled. It was not until 2016 that Spain witnessed a downward trend in its unemployment rate. Unemployment in Spain The age group with the highest distribution of unemployment is that of teenagers (16 to 19 years). Recent quarterly unemployment figures in Spain show that unemployment peaked in the first quarter of 2013, whereby there were approximately 6.28 million inhabitants unemployed, by the same quarter in 2024, unemployment had decreased by over 3 million. This trend is also reflected in the number of people in employment in Spain. The situation in the European Union Spain was the European country with the highest unemployment rate in August 2023, with nearly 12 percent of the labor force out of work. This figure is considerably higher than that of the rest of the European Union, which had an average unemployment rate of six percent as of the same period. In terms of youth unemployment, figures in the European Union reached 14 percent in August 2023, although the numbers varies greatly across the countries. While Greece and Spain topped the list at a youth unemployment rate of 23.5 and 26.8 percent, Germany was at the bottom of the list with just 5.7 percent of its youth out of a job.

This horizontal bar chart displays unemployment (% of total labor force) by capital city using the aggregation average in Western Europe. The data is about countries per year.

Context

The data contains unemployment information by sex and age for European Union. The time span is from Jan 1983 to recent months (depends on the latest update, version 3 in under July 2020).

The data fields meaning is explained on Eurostat site, Unemployment by sex and age – monthly data - Reference Metadata in Euro SDMX Metadata Structure (ESMS)

The age groups are:
* TOTAL - all group ages;
* Y_LT25 - less than 25 years old;
* Y25_74 - between 25 and 74 years old.

The data units are:

• PC_ACT - Percentage Active Population
• THS_PER - Thousands Person.

The sex groups are:

• T - all;
• M - male;
• F - female.

Acknowledgements

The data provenance is EU Open Data Portal, https://data.europa.eu/euodp/en/data/dataset/OEEyFHYAWVNRYGMFhUzzw

Inspiration

Analyze the variation of unemployment per total or ages interval, per countries or overall, on a long time period or focusing on few years. Verify which age groups were most affected by COVID-19 in Europe.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate: Aged 15-24: Males for the Euro Area (19 Countries) (LRUN24MAEZQ156S) from Q1 2005 to Q4 2022 about 15 to 24 years, males, Euro Area, Europe, unemployment, and rate.

European Union Unemployment Rate: Euro Area 20 data was reported at 6.500 % in Mar 2025. This stayed constant from the previous number of 6.500 % for Feb 2025. European Union Unemployment Rate: Euro Area 20 data is updated monthly, averaging 8.800 % from Jan 2000 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 303 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 12.900 % in Feb 2013 and a record low of 6.100 % in Nov 2024. European Union Unemployment Rate: Euro Area 20 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Eurostat. The data is categorized under Global Database’s European Union – Table EU.G: Eurostat: Unemployment Rate.