People outside the labour force: the downward trend continues - Issue number 122/2007 - Products Statistics in Focus

The share of inactive persons in the total population of 15-64 years old in the EU-25 has dropped from 31.6% in 1999 to 29.4% in 2006. The inactivity rate of women in this period fell from 40.5% to 36.7%, while inactivity rate of men remained relatively stable, 22.6% and 22.0% respectively. These are the results of the European Union Labour Force survey. The publication also analyses the inactivity rate in relation to other variables.