The Netherlands had the highest employment rate among European Union countries in 2025, at 82.5 percent, while Iceland had the highest employment rate among all European countries. The second highest employment rate in the EU was that of Malta, which had an employment rate of 79.9 percent. Italy reported the lowest employment rate in the EU at 62.7 percent.

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

The total employment rate in the European reached 71.7 percent in the third quarter of 2024, an increase on the previous quarter and amongst the highest employment rates in the union since 2005. There is a marked inequality between the male and female employment rates in the EU, with the male employment rate being approximately 75 percent, while the rate for females is around 66 percent. The gap between men and women has declined since 2005, when the gap was almost 15 percent, rather than the 10 percent it is today.

Full Time Employment in European Union increased to 165997.90 Thousand in the second quarter of 2025 from 164649.30 Thousand in the first quarter of 2025. This dataset provides - European Union Full Time Employment- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Among European Union countries in July 2025, Spain had the highest unemployment rate at 10.4 percent, followed by Finland at 10 percent. By contrast, Malta has the lowest unemployment rate in Europe, at 2.6 percent. The overall rate of unemployment in the European Union was 5.9 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.

Graph and download economic data for Employment Rate: Aged 15-64: All Persons for the European Union (LREM64TTEUA156S) from 2005 to 2019 about EU, employment-population ratio, 15 to 64 years, Europe, population, employment, and rate.

This statistic shows the employment rate in the European Union from 2010 to 2023. In 2023, the employment rate in the EU amounted to 70.4 percent, compared to 69.8 percent in 2022.

European Union - Employment rates of recent graduates was 82.40% in December of 2022, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for European Union - Employment rates of recent graduates - last updated from the EUROSTAT on September of 2025. Historically, European Union - Employment rates of recent graduates reached a record high of 82.40% in December of 2022 and a record low of 74.30% in December of 2013.

There were over 30 million people working in the manufacturing sector in the European Union, as of 2025, the most of any economic sector. Employees working in wholesale and retail trade numbered approximately 25.9 million, while there were just over 22.3 million people working in human health and social work.

Unemployment in the European Union has reached its low point in the twenty-first century in 2025. The share of the labour force out of work was slighly under 5.9 percent between January and July of that year, a marked decrease from its most recent peak of 7.8 percent in the Summer of 2020. While the jobs recovery has been strong in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic in the EU, this number is still far above the remarkably low rate in the United States, which has reached 4.1 percent in 2025. Nevertheless, this recent decline is a positive development for the EU countries, many of which have long suffered from chronic unemployment issues. In some regional labour markets in the EU, the issue is now less of people who can't find work, but employers who cannot find employees, leading to labour shortages. The sick men of Europe Several EU member states have long had high unemployment rates, with the large numbers of people in long-term unemployment being particularly concerning. Italy, France, Greece, Spain, and Portugal have all had double-digit unemployment rates for significant amounts of time during this period, with the ability of people to freely migrate to other EU countries for work only marginally decreasing this. While these countries have long dealt with these issues due to their declining legacy industries and the struggle of competing in a liberalized, globalized economy, their unemployment rates reached their highest points following the global financial crisis, great recession, and Eurozone crisis. These interconnected crises led to a period of prolonged stagnation in their economies, with unemployment reaching as high as 25 percent in Greece, the worst affected economy.

This statistic displays the employment rates of European countries shown as a percentage of the total population of each European country in 2016. Iceland has the highest rate of employment in Europe with **** percent of the total population in work, despite having the smallest working population. This was followed by Switzerland at ** percent and Sweden at **** percent.

As of the first quarter of 2024, there were approximately 201 million people in employment in the European Union. This figure marks a significant improvement on the previous years, when unemployment in the EU had risen due to the effects of the inflation caused by the rise of the energy prices. Employment in the EU reached a low point during this period of around 188 million people employed in the second quarter of 2020, since which it has risen rapidly, only declining marginally between quarter four of 2020 and quarter one of 2021. The recent history of EU employment growth Total employment in the EU has risen by almost 20 million people since the low point following the great recession and Eurozone crisis in quarter one of 2013. The early 2010s were a particularly difficiult time for the European Union, as the global financial crisis had caused the collapse of property and asset markets, particularly in Greece, Italy, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain. These countries were in many cases forced to provide extraordinary financial assistance to financial institutions, which ballooned their national debt and finally led to sovereign debt crises, with the ECB and IMF stepping in to provide bailouts. These successive crises, as well as the constrained fiscal approach to solving the crises, led to a prolonged period of falling total employment. As the waves of crises receded, the EU went through a prolonged period of job growth, driven in particular by Germany's period of export-led growth from 2015 onwards, in which total employment grew in the EU consistently from quarter two of 2013 to quarter four of 2019.

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.

Graph and download economic data for Employment Rate: Aged 15-74: All Persons for the European Union (LREM74TTEUQ156N) from Q2 2000 to Q4 2019 about 15 to 74 years, EU, employment-population ratio, Europe, population, employment, and rate.

The Netherlands had the highest employment rate among European Union countries in 2024, at 82.5 percent, while Iceland had the highest employment rate among all European countries. The second highest employment rate in the EU was that of Malta, which had an employment rate of 78.4 percent. Italy reported the lowest employment rate in the EU at 62.3 percent.

European Union - Employment rate: Males was 77.20% in December of 2020, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for European Union - Employment rate: Males - last updated from the EUROSTAT on September of 2025. Historically, European Union - Employment rate: Males reached a record high of 78.30% in December of 2019 and a record low of 72.40% in December of 2013.

European Union - Employment rate: From 25 to 54 years was 82.50% in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for European Union - Employment rate: From 25 to 54 years - last updated from the EUROSTAT on September of 2025. Historically, European Union - Employment rate: From 25 to 54 years reached a record high of 82.50% in December of 2024 and a record low of 75.60% in December of 2013.

The employment rate of the total population is calculated by dividing the number of person aged 20 to 64 in employment by the total population of the same age group. The employment rate of men is calculated by dividing the number of men aged 20 to 64 in employment by the total male population of the same age group. The employment rate of women is calculated by dividing the number of women aged 20 to 64 in employment by the total female population of the same age group. The indicators are based on the EU Labour Force Survey.

European Union Employment Rate: EA 19: Female: Age 55 to 64 data was reported at 58.000 % in Mar 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 57.900 % for Dec 2022. European Union Employment Rate: EA 19: Female: Age 55 to 64 data is updated quarterly, averaging 48.600 % from Mar 2009 (Median) to Mar 2023, with 57 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 58.000 % in Mar 2023 and a record low of 36.400 % in Mar 2009. European Union Employment Rate: EA 19: Female: Age 55 to 64 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Eurostat. The data is categorized under Global Database’s European Union – Table EU.G009: Eurostat: Employment Rate.

European Union Employment Rate: EU 28: Age 15 to 64 data was reported at 69.100 % in Sep 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 68.700 % for Jun 2018. European Union Employment Rate: EU 28: Age 15 to 64 data is updated quarterly, averaging 64.300 % from Mar 2001 (Median) to Sep 2018, with 71 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 69.100 % in Sep 2018 and a record low of 61.900 % in Mar 2002. European Union Employment Rate: EU 28: Age 15 to 64 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Eurostat. The data is categorized under Global Database’s European Union – Table EU.G006: Eurostat: Employment Rate.