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.

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.

The 'LFS main indicators' section presents a selection of the main statistics on the labour market. They encompass indicators of activity, employment and unemployment. Those indicators are based on the results of the European Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS), in few cases integrated with data sources like national accounts employment or registered unemployment. As a result of the application of adjustments, corrections and reconciliation of EU Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) data, the 'LFS main indicators' is the most complete and reliable collection of employment and unemployment data available in the sub-domain 'Employment and unemployment'.

The EU-LFS data used for 'LFS main indicators' are, where necessary, adjusted and enriched in various ways, in accordance with the specificities of an indicator. The most common adjustments cover:

• estimation of missing values, i.e. in case of missing quarters, annual results and EU aggregates are estimated using interpolations of EU Labour Force Survey data with reference to the available quarter(s).
• for all quarterly indicators seasonally adjusted data are available.
• correction of the main breaks in the LFS series.

Those adjustments may produce some differences between data published under 'LFS main indicators' and 'LFS series – detailed quarterly/annual survey results', particularly for back data. For the most recent years, the different series converge, due to the implementation of a continuous quarterly survey and the improved quality of the data.

This page focuses on the 'LFS main indicators' in general. There are special pages for indicators that are listed below:

• Monthly Unemployment: une_rt_m.

Quarterly and annual unemployment figures are derived in line with all other LFS Main Indciators, and no longer aggregated from monthly unemployment series.

• Duration of working life - annual data: lfsi_dwl_a;
• Population in jobless households - annual data: lfsi_jhh_a;
• Labour market transitions - LFS longitudinal data: lfsi_long.

The entry of the new Framework regulation on Social Statistics (IESS) in 2021 created changes in the LFS Main Indicators. Most countries expected breaks for a number of series derived from LFS microdata, therefore Eurostat and participating countries launched a joint break correction exercise to produce comparable data before and under IESS. The 'LFS main indicators' section therefore contains two type of datasets depending on the underlying regulation. The first type of datasets are historical series under the pre-IESS regulation, and include the suffix ‘_h’ for historical series at the end of the table titles. Historical series will remain accessible and are continued until 2020Q4 LFS microdata revisions of previously released EU-LFS series. Reasons for revisions are for example weight revisions due to revised weighting routines, or census revisions. The second type of datasets are new tables that are filled with data under IESS from 2021Q1 on. These tables also include the break-corrected 2009Q1-2020Q4 data that are produced in the break correction exercise. If countries send longer complete time series than starting in 2009, that data will also be used and published. Until fully back-estimated series in line with IESS are available for all countries, EU and EA aggregates were based on the data that is available at the time and was flagged with a break flag. Fully break-free EU and EA aggregates were published for the first time in February 2022. More information can be found on the EU-LFS Breaks in Time Series (Statistics Explained) webpage.

General information on the EU-LFS can be found in the ESMS page for 'Employment and unemployment (LFS)', see link in related metadata. Detailed information on the main features, the legal basis, the methodology and the data as well as on the historical development of the EU-LFS is available on the EU-LFS (Statistics Explained) webpage.

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 5.8 percent between January and March 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 4.3 percent in 2024. 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.

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.

Youth Unemployment Rate in European Union decreased to 14.40 percent in July from 14.80 percent in June of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - European Union Youth Unemployment Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Unemployed persons as a percentage of the labour force. The labour force is the total number of people employed and unemployed. Unemployed persons are persons aged 15 to 74 who were without work during the reference week, were available for work and were actively seeking work. Data available as rates (% of population in the labour force, % of the total population) and in absolute numbers (1000 persons).

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.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate: Aged 15-64: All Persons for the Euro Area (19 Countries) (LRUN64TTEZA156S) from 2005 to 2022 about 15 to 64 years, Euro Area, Europe, unemployment, and rate.

Euro Area - Unemployment rate was 6.40% in December of 2024, according to the EUROSTAT. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Euro Area - Unemployment rate - last updated from the EUROSTAT on September of 2025. Historically, Euro Area - Unemployment rate reached a record high of 12.20% in December of 2013 and a record low of 6.40% in December of 2024.

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.

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.

The unemployment rate in the European Union and the Euro area from 2013 to 2024 has a decreasing trend. In 2024, the average unemployment rate in the EU was 5.9 percent.

'Unemployment by sex and age - monthly data' is a dataset with series on a monthly basis which is, where necessary, adjusted and enriched in various ways, in accordance with the specificities of the indicator. The monthly unemployment indicator is calculated with special methods and periodicity which justify the present page.

Quarterly and annual unemployment is published in the section 'LFS main indicators', which is a collection of the main statistics on the labour market.

This page focuses on the particularities of the estimation of harmonised unemployment (including unemployment rates). Other information on 'LFS main indicators' can be found in the respective ESMS page, see link in section 'related metadata'.

Since the oil price shock in 1974 unemployment increased significantly and also did not really decline in periods of economic upswings in Europe. This is especially the case for the countries of the European Union; therefore we face a special need for explanation. Looking at the member states on finds considerable differences. Since 1977 the unemployment rate within the EU is higher than the average unemployment rate of all OECD countries. The economic upswing in the second half of the 80s relaxed the labor market but nevertheless the unemployment rate remained on a high level. This study deals with the development of unemployment between 1974 and 1993 in four different G7 countries: Germany, France, Great Britain and Italy. Besides the common trend of an increasing unemployment rate, there are significantly different developments within the four countries. The analysis is divided in two parts: the first part looks at the reasons for the increase in unemployment in the considered countries; the second part aims to explain the difference between the developments of unemployment during economic cycles in the different countries. After the description of similarities and differences of labor markets in the four countries it follows a long term analysis based on annual data as well as a short and medium term analysis on quarterly data. This is due to the fact that short and medium term developments are mainly influenced by cyclical economic developments but long term developments are mainly influenced by other factors like demographical and structural changes. A concrete question within this framework is if an increase in production potential can contribute to a decrease in unemployment. For the long term analysis among others the Hysteresis-hypothesis (Hysteresis = Greek: to remain; denotes the remaining effect; in this context: remaining of unemployment) used for the explanation of the persistence of a high unemployment rate. According to this approach consisting unemployment is barely decreased after economic recovery despite full utilization of capacity. According to the Hysteresis-hypothesis there are two reasons for this. The first reason is that for long term unemployed the abilities to work and the qualification level decreased, their human capital is partly devalued. The second reason is that employees give up wage restraint, because they do not fear unemployment anymore and therefore enforce higher real wages. Besides economic recovery companies are not willing to hire long term unemployed with a lower expected productivity for the higher established tariff wages. In the context of the empirical investigation a multiple explanatory approach is chosen which takes supply side and demand side factors into consideration. The short and medium term analysis refers to Okun´s law (=an increase in the unemployment rate is connected with a decrease of the GDP; if the unemployment rate stays unchanged, the GDP grows with 3% p.a.) and aims to analyze more detailed the reactions of unemployment to economic cycles. A geometrical lag-model is compared with a lag-model ager Almon. This should ensure a precise as possible analysis of the Okun´s relations and coefficients. Register of tables in HISTAT: A.: Unemployment in the European G7 countries B.: Analysis of unemployment in the Federal Republic of Germany C.: Basic numbers: International comparison A.: Unemployment in the European G7 countries A.1. Determinates of unemployment in the EU, Germany (1974-1993) A.2. Determinates of unemployment in the EU, France (1974-1993) A.3. Determinates of unemployment in the EU, Great Britain (1974-1993) A.4. Determinates of unemployment in the EU, Italy (1974-1993) B: Analysis of unemployment in the Federal Republic of Germany B.1. Growth of unemployment in the Federal Republic of Germany (1984-1991) B.2. Output and unemployment in the Federal Republic of Germany (1961-1990) C: Basic numbers: International comparison C.1. Unemployment in EU countries, the USA, Japan and Switzerland (1960-1996) C.2. Gainful employments in EU countries, the USA, Japan and Switzerland (after inland and residency concept) (1960-1996) C.3. Employees in EU countries, the USA and Japan (1960-1996) C.4. Population in EU countries, the USA and Japan (1960-1996)

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.