Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

E2: Environmental statistics and accounts; sustainable development

e-mail contact : ESTAT-SDI-EU2020-INDICATORS@ec.europa.eu

This indicator is part of the indicator sets:

a) EU Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicator set where it is used to monitor progress towards SDG 8 on decent work and economic growth. SDG 8 calls, among other things, for providing opportunities for full and productive employment and decent work for all.
The breakdown of the indicator by citizenship is presented as a separate table, sdg_08_30a. It is used to monitor progress towards the social inclusion of migrants within the scope of SDG 10 on reducing inequalities.

b) EU 2020 strategy indicators where it is used to monitor progress towards the EU's target of 'increasing the employment rate of the population aged 20 to 64 to at least 75 %' by 2020.

Furthermore, indicator is part of the impact indicators for Strategic plan 2016-2020 referring to the 10 Commission priorities, and included as main indicator in the Social Scoreboard for the European Pillar of Social Rights.

Employment and other labour market-related issues are at the heart of social and political debate in the EU. Paid employment is crucial for ensuring sufficient living standards and it provides the necessary foundation for people to achieve their personal goals and aspirations. Moreover, employment contributes to economic performance, quality of life and social inclusion, making it a cornerstone of socioeconomic development and well-being.

The indicator measures the share of the population aged 20 to 64 which is employed. Employed persons are defined as persons who, during a reference week, worked at least one hour for pay or profit or were not working but had jobs from which they were temporarily absent.

The indicator is part of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) main indicators, where the series are adjusted (seasonal adjustment) and break-corrected, and should consequently not be compared with the indicators in the annual and quarterly detailed series, which are not adjusted and not break-corrected. Results might occasionally be slightly different.

The separate table sdg_08_30a shows the breakdown of the people at risk of poverty by citizenship. It shows the shares for citizens of the reporting country and for non EU citizens.

a) % of population aged 20 to 64 by sex and % of population aged 20 to 64 by citizenship

b) % of population aged 20 to 64 by sex

Calendar year

The indicator is produced according to the high-level quality standards of European Statistics. Details on accuracy can be found in the metadata of the source datasets (see link to related metadata).

ESS (LFS)

Data source: ESS Labour Force Survey (LFS)

Data provider: Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, based on data reported by the countries.

Every year

The indicator is updated annually in April.

T+1 year

New data points are disseminated within one year after the reference year.

All EU MS

Data are presented for all EU Member States plus the United Kingdom, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, North Macedonia, Turkey.

All EU MS

Data are comparable between all EU Member States respectively other presented countries.

> 10 years

Presented time series (including EU aggregates) starts in 2001.

> 4 data points

Length of comparable time series without methodological break is longer than 4 data points.

Analysis of the indicator is presented in

a) Eurostat's annual monitoring report on Sustainable development in the EU (progress towards SDGs in the EU context).

b) Eurostat's annual monitoring report on the Europe 2020 strategy 'Smarter greener, more inclusive? - Indicators to support the Europe 2020 strategy'.

see tables:

a) sdg_08_30, sdg_08_30a

b) t2020_10

Eurostat dedicated section on:

a) SDGs: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/sdi/overview

b) EU 2020 strategy: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/europe-2020-indicators/europe-2020-strategy

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