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Employment gaps for women & people with disabilities
EU unemployment hit new lows in 2023
In 2023, the unemployment rate for 15-74 years old in the EU fell to 6.1% of the labour force, the lowest level since 2014.
The long-term unemployment rate, as a percentage of the labour force, was 2.1% in 2023, marking a historic low since the beginning of the time series in 2009.
Among EU countries, Greece stood out with the highest long-term unemployment rate, reaching 6.2%, followed by Spain (4.3%) and Italy (4.2%). At the other end of the scale, Denmark and the Netherlands were both at 0.5%, ahead of Czechia, Malta and Poland (all at 0.8%).
Source dataset: une_ltu_a
Youth unemployment also at a record low
Regarding young people aged 15 to 29 years, the unemployment ratio was 6.3% of the total population of the same age. Looking at the long-term trend, this share was at the lowest level in the entire available time series.
Still, the situation among EU countries varied a lot. Sweden registered the highest share of youth unemployment at 10.9%, followed by Spain (10.8%) and Greece (9.8%) while the lowest rates were in Czechia (2.4%), Bulgaria (3.2%) and Germany (3.3%).
For more information
- Statistics explained article on unemployment statistics and beyond
- Statistics explained article on labour market slack - employment supply and demand mismatch
- Thematic section on employment and unemployment
- Database on employment and unemployment
Methodological notes
- All figures are based on the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS).
- Denmark and Cyprus, 15-74 and 15-29 years old: break in time series
- Spain and France, 15-74 and 15-29 years old: definition differs
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