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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Unemployment Rate in European Union remained unchanged at 5.90 percent in June. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - European Union Unemployment Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Table of INEBase Unemployment rates by nationality, sex and Autonomous Community. Annual. Autonomous Communities and Cities. Economically Active Population Survey

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.

Analysis of ‘Unemployment rates by nationality, sex and Autonomous Community. EPA (API identifier: 4249)’ provided by Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai), based on source dataset retrieved from http://data.europa.eu/88u/dataset/urn-ine-es-tabla-t3-330-4249 on 07 January 2022.

--- Dataset description provided by original source is as follows ---

Table of INEBase Unemployment rates by nationality, sex and Autonomous Community. Quarterly. Autonomous Communities and Cities. Economically Active Population Survey

--- Original source retains full ownership of the source dataset ---

Analysis of ‘Unemployment rate according to ILO by sex, nationality and age groups. Average monthly, quarterly and annual figures’ provided by Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai), based on source dataset retrieved from http://data.europa.eu/88u/dataset/20204293-bundesamt-fur-statistik-bfs on 16 January 2022.

--- Dataset description provided by original source is as follows ---

This dataset presents the annual, quarterly and monthly unemployment rates according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) by sex, nationality (Swiss, foreigners) and age group, since 1991. The descriptions of the variables in the CSV file are available in the appendix.

--- Original source retains full ownership of the source dataset ---

Unemployment rates by sex, age, citizenship and degree of urbanisation

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.

Unemployment rates by sex, age, citizenship and NUTS 2 regions

EU DK: Unemployment Rate: sa: Female data was reported at 5.400 % in May 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 5.500 % for Apr 2018. EU DK: Unemployment Rate: sa: Female data is updated monthly, averaging 6.400 % from Jan 1983 (Median) to May 2018, with 425 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 10.100 % in Jun 1993 and a record low of 3.400 % in Dec 2007. EU DK: Unemployment Rate: sa: Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Eurostat. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Denmark – Table DK.Eurostat: Unemployment Rate: Seasonally Adjusted.

This section presents statistical information on the educational variables that are collected in the Labour Force Survey of the National Institute of Statistics, as well as in the Community Labour Force Survey (Eurostat). The indicators of the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (2021-2030) that derive from these sources are highlighted. The information is presented disaggregated by autonomous community and by country of the European Union, according to the source used, and with temporary developments since 2002.Line break The results are obtained as annual averages of quarterly data, so the information is updated annually, as the four quarters of the EPA are available, as well as the results derived from the Community survey of Eurostat. From the 2014 results of the EPA, the new National Classification of Education, CNED-2014, based on the International Standard Classification of Education, ISCED-2011, applied in the LFS, is applied; and from 2016, the update of the sectors/fields of study of both classifications (CNED-F and ISCED-F) is applied. These changes in the rankings represent a series break for some of the tables, as indicated in the accompanying notes.

European Union Unemployment Rate: sa: EU 27 excl UK: Female data was reported at 7.000 % in Mar 2020. This records an increase from the previous number of 6.700 % for Feb 2020. European Union Unemployment Rate: sa: EU 27 excl UK: Female data is updated monthly, averaging 10.100 % from Jan 2000 (Median) to Mar 2020, with 243 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 11.700 % in Apr 2013 and a record low of 6.700 % in Feb 2020. European Union Unemployment Rate: sa: EU 27 excl UK: Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Eurostat. The data is categorized under Global Database’s European Union – Table EU.G011: Eurostat: Unemployment Rate: Seasonally Adjusted.

As of 2025, there are nine countries which are official candidates to join the European Union, with Kosovo identified as a potential future candidate by the European Commission. To join the EU, countries must fulfill the Copenhagen Criteria, conditions which seek to ensure sufficient convergence in economic, political, and institutional/administrative matters between the candidate country and the EU before they are integrated into the bloc. Unemployment is a serious issue in many of the candidate countries for EU membership, with Moldova being the only country being below the EU average in this metric. While political and institutional concerns such as corruption, human rights issues, and the rule of law are seen as the main stumbling block for these countries to enter the EU, economic issues such as unemployment may also come to the fore in the coming years. Many citizens of current EU countries fear that newer member states will drive down wages, and this is particularly so for countries with large numbers of unemployed workers. High unemployment rates may also signal that these countries will experience a migration wave to other EU member states once their citizens attain the right to free movement within the Union.

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.