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Archive:Statistics on employment characteristics of households

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Data extracted in June 2016. Most recent data: Further Eurostat information, Main tables and Database.

European Union Labour force survey - Annual results 2015


This article presents the main results for 2015 of the EU Labour force survey (LFS) for the European Union (EU) as a whole, for all Member States individually, as well as for two candidate countries and three EFTA countries.

Indicators presented in this publication are:


This article should be read together with Employment rates and Europe 2020 national targets and Underemployment and potential additional labour force statistics, for a more complete picture of the situation on the labour market in 2015.


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Map 1: Unemployment rate, persons aged 15-74, 2015, annual data, per cent - Source: Eurostat (lfsa_urgan)
Figure 1: Unemployment rate, persons aged 15-74, 2000-2015, annual data, per cent - Source: Eurostat (lfsa_urgan)

Main statistical findings

In 2015, the EU unemployment rate continued to fall, to 9.4 per cent, and was at its lowest since 2010. This was the second year in a row with a markedly diminished rate. Regarding unemployment, we see that the crisis which started in the end of 2008 peaked in the beginning of 2013. There are, however, large differences between the countries; some have returned to or even improved on their pre-crisis levels, others have stabilized at much higher rates, and yet others show little or no effects from the crisis at all (see figure timeline unemployment)

We also find improvements in the employment rate, which stood at 70.1 per cent in 2015. This is the second best annual result since the start of the data series in 1995. For more results on the employment rate, please see Employment rates and Europe 2020 national targets.


Unemployment in the EU

The EU annual average unemployment rate was 9.4 per cent in 2015. The national levels inside the EU ranged from 4.6 per cent in Germany to 24.9 per cent in Greece. For the non-member states there were even larger differences , from 4.0 per cent in Iceland to 26.1 per cent in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Map 1 shows the situation for all countries in 2015: Germany clearly stands out as the member state with the lowest unemployment, joined by Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland. The following group (5-7.4 per cent) has the United Kingdom as the largest economy, and also includes a continuous corridor of the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, and Romania on one side, a Scandinavian / Baltic cluster of Sweden, Denmark, and Estonia on another, as well as the Netherlands and Luxembourg. Four of the eight countries having unemployment from 7.5-9.9 per cent form a north-eastern group, from Poland through most of the Baltic, and into Finland. Joining them, in a more scattered fashion, are Belgium, Slovenia, Bulgaria, and Ireland. France and Italy form the core of the 10-15 per cent group, which also includes Slovakia, Portugal, and Turkey. The highest unemployment levels were recorded in Cyprus, Croatia, Spain, Greece, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

Looking at the development over time (figure 1) rather than at a snap shot of 2015, we find when comparing 2000 to 2015, that four countries (France, Hungary, Romania, United Kingdom) have had a rather stable unemployment rate. Another ten countries (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Finland) have shown clear improvements over this period. The remaining sixteen countries in the data set are worse off in 2015 than they were in 2000.

Narrowing the perspective a bit, to the boom and bust years of 2007-13, we find that there are four countries which managed to decrease their unemployment rate during the crisis: Germany, Malta, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Turkey.

On average for the EU, the crest of the unemployment wave broke in late 2013, and has continued to recede in 2014 and 2015. It varies, however, not less than seven years between the individual countries on when they had their highest unemployment level after the crisis. Germany and Malta had their worst year in 2009. The Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Slovakia, and Sweden followed in 2010, and the year after it was Denmark, Ireland, Romania, and the United Kingdom. In 2012 there was no country

Employees

In 2014 employees accounted for 83.5 % of total EU employment. The proportion of employees was above 90 % in Denmark and Luxembourg (both 91.1 %) and Estonia (90.9%). The figure was below 70 % in both Greece (64.0 %) and Romania (67.9 %). In the EU, 48 % of employees were women. There are sizeable differences between Member States in the proportions of employees working part-time and employees with contracts of limited duration.

Part-time employment was stable from 2013 to 2014. Part-time employment among employees stood at 20.6 % in the EU. Some three out of four employees working part-time in the EU were women (77.3 %).

In the EU countries, the share of employees working part-time was highest in the Netherlands (52.4 % of employees), followed by Germany (28.3 %), Austria (27.7 %), Denmark (26.3%) and the United Kingdom and Sweden (both 26.2 %). The lowest shares were recorded in Romania (0.7 %), Bulgaria (2.1 %), Croatia (3.0 %), Slovakia (5.7 %) and Latvia (5.9 %). Two EFTA countries, Switzerland (37.4 %) and Norway (26.5 %), also had a relatively large share of part-time employees (see Figure 1).

Employees in full-time jobs usually worked 40.4 hours per week in 2014. The United Kingdom (42.4 hours), and Portugal (41.7), Austria and Cyprus (both 41.5) had the longest weekly working hours, while employees usually worked less than 39.0 hours per week in Denmark (37.8), Italy (38.7) and the Netherlands (38.9). Part-time employees usually worked 20.4 hours per week in the EU in 2014. They worked longest in Romania (24.5), Sweden and Belgium (both 24.2) and shortest in Denmark (17.8) and Portugal (18.0).

In 2014, the gender pattern of full-time and part-time employees differed: while male full-time employees usually worked longer hours than female employees in the EU (41.1 to 39.4 hours per week) and in each Member State, it is the opposite for part-time workers in many countries but not all (see Table 1).

Employees with limited duration contracts accounted for 14.0 % of all employees in the EU. Compared with 2013, the proportion did not change significantly (+0.3 pps). The highest proportions were recorded in Poland (28.4 %), Spain (24.0 %), the Netherlands (21.7 %) and Portugal (21.4 %), while it was below 5 % in Romania (1.5 %), Lithuania (2.8 %), Estonia (3.2 %) and Latvia (3.3 %) (see Figure 1).

Self-employed

In 2014 self-employed persons (including family workers) accounted for 16.4 % of total EU employment. Of the 35.8 million self-employed persons in the EU, 28.6 million worked full-time and 7.1 million part-time. The proportion of women among the self-employed was much lower (34.2 %) than among employees, but was higher among part-time self-employed persons (55.4 %).

The proportion of self-employed persons (excluding family workers) varied significantly between countries. It was above 20 % in Greece (31.3 %) and Italy (23.3 %) and Portugal (20.9 %), and below 10 % in Luxembourg (8.3 %), Denmark (8.7 %) and Estonia (8.9 %). Staff was employed by 28.1 % of self-employed persons in the EU. The proportion of self-employed with staff among the self-employed was higher than 40 % in Hungary (48.1 %), Germany (44.1 %), Austria (41.7 %) and Denmark (40.3 %), and below 20 % in Romania (5.6 %), the United Kingdom (17.1 %) and the Czech Republic (19.9 %) (see Figure 2).


Foreign workers in the EU

In 2014 there were 15.2 million persons living and working in an EU Member State of which they were not a citizen, accounting for 7.0 % of total EU employment. 7.3 million of them were citizens from another EU Member State and 7.9 million were non-EU citizens. The highest proportions of foreign workers among all employed persons in the EU were recorded in Luxembourg (50.5 %) and Cyprus (19.2 %). Among the EFTA countries, Switzerland had a relatively high proportion of foreign workers (24.6 %) (see lfsa_egan).

In the EU as a whole, the employment rate of citizens from another EU Member State [1] was significantly higher (69.2 %) than that for non-EU citizens (53.4 %) and even for nationals (64.9 %). In 17 Member States the employment rate for foreign citizens from another Member State was higher than the rate for nationals. It was highest in Slovakia (80.3 %), Latvia [2] (78.9 %), the United Kingdom (77.9 %) and Estonia (77.5 %). The employment rate for non-EU citizens was above 70 % in the Czech Republic, Cyprus and Latvia. (see lfsa_ergan).

In the last two years, more than one million persons took up residence and worked in an EU Member State other than their country of citizenship. Of these, 41.2 % took up residence and worked in the United Kingdom, 21.6 % in Germany, 7.7 % in Belgium and 4.5 % in Austria respectively Spain (see Figure 3).

736 000 foreign workers who migrated to or within EU countries in the last two years were citizens from another EU Member State and some 379 000 were non-EU citizens. Compared with 2012, the total number of non-national employed persons who had recently moved to an EU country other than their country of citizenship increased by 12.4 %. The growth is due to increased mobility of EU citizens; the mobility of non-EU citizens has however declined. Furthermore the trends across Member States were very different (see Table 2).

Most of these foreign workers did not move alone within or into the EU. In 2014, around 1.8 million family members [3] took up residence with them.

Unemployed

Unemployment in the EU fell to 24.5 million persons in 2014, 1.5 million less than in 2013. Women accounted for 46.4 % of the unemployed persons. The number of unemployed women fell by 0.6 million to 11.4 million, and by 0.9 million to 13.1 million for men compared with 2013 (see lfsa_ugan).

The EU unemployment rate was 10.2 % in 2014, a decrease of 0.6 pps on 2013. In 2014, the rate ranged from 5.0 % in Germany, 5.6 % in Austria, 5.9 % in Luxembourg, 6.1 % both in the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom to 26.5 % in Greece, 24.5 % in Spain, 17.3 % in Croatia and 16.1 % in Cyprus (see Figure 4).

The share of long-term unemployment has steadily increased over the last couple of years. While 49.5 % of unemployed persons in the EU had been out of work for 12 months or longer in 2014, the figure was 33.2 % in 2009. Long-term unemployed accounted for over half of total unemployment in nine Member States — Greece (73.5 %), Slovakia (70.2 %), Italy (61.4 %), Bulgaria (60.4 %) — while it was below 25 % in Sweden (18.9 %) and Finland (22.4 %).

In 2014 long-term unemployment increased significantly in Cyprus (+ 9.4 pps) and Greece (+ 6.4 pps), compared with 2013.

The main indicator of youth unemployment is the youth unemployment rate for the 15-24 age group. It uses the same standard definition as the unemployment rate for the population aged 15-74 which is defined as the number of unemployed divided by the labour force (employed and unemployed persons). In 2014, the youth unemployment rate in the EU was 21.9 %. Member States had very different youth unemployment rates — it was above 50 % in Spain (53.2 %), Greece (52.4 %), while Germany (7.7 %), Austria (10.3 %), the Netherlands (10.5 %) and three EFTA countries, Norway (7.9 %), Switzerland (8.6 %) and Iceland (9.8 %), recorded rates below or around 10 % (see Figure 5). The youth unemployment ratio is another indicator of the incidence of unemployment among young people. It is defined as the number of unemployed aged 15-24 divided by the population of that age. This is an important indicator, in particular for young people, as not every young person has entered the labour market yet.

In 2014 the youth unemployment ratio was 9.1 %, or approximately half the youth unemployment rate. The highest youth unemployment ratios were recorded in Spain (19.0 %), Croatia (15.3 %), Greece (14.7 %) and Cyprus (14.5 %). The lowest ratios were recorded in Germany, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Luxembourg, Austria and Hungary where they were 6 % or lower. Italy has one of the highest youth unemployment rates (42.7 %), but an unemployment ratio (11.6 %) lower than Sweden (12.7 %).

These results show that the transition from education to the labour market is not a simple switch of status. For a more detailed explanation, please see the articles 'Participation of young people in education and the labour market' and 'Youth unemployment'.

The unemployment rate in the EU is generally higher for foreign citizens than for nationals of the country in question. In 2014, the EU unemployment rate for citizens from another EU Member State was 11.6 %, while for foreign citizens from outside the EU the rate was almost twice as high (20.3 %). The highest unemployment rates for foreign non-EU citizens were observed in Spain (37.4 %), Greece (33.9 %) and Belgium (30.8 %). Unemployment rates of around 10 % or lower were recorded in the Czech Republic, Cyprus, the United Kingdom and Malta (see Table 3).


Population not in the labour force

In 2014, 178.3 million persons living in the EU were not in the labour force, i.e. neither employed nor unemployed. Of these, 59.3 % were women, 18.2 % were 24 years old or younger and 23.9 % were older than 75. Some of the persons aged 15-74 not in the labour force share some characteristics with the unemployed, even if they do not fulfil all the criteria of the unemployment definition of the International Labour Organisation (ILO). In 2014, 2.2 million persons aged 15-74 were seeking work but were not immediately available to work and 9.5 million were available for work but were not seeking it. They were 1.2 % and 5.5 % respectively of persons aged 15-74 not in the labour force. For a more detailed analysis on the types of joblessness not covered by the ILO definition, please see the article 'underemployment and potential additional labour force statistics'.

Synoptic overview: population by labour status

The synoptic overview (see Figure 6) summarises key results on the labour status of persons aged 15 years and older in the EU-28. The information comprises the following categories: employed, unemployed and persons not in the labour force.

The results include information on self-employed persons, employees, persons in part-time and full-time jobs and persons in permanent and temporary jobs. The results also contain information on short- and long-term unemployment and the number of persons seeking a full-time or part-time job.

Figure 6 reports absolute numbers and the specific proportion of females, as well as of young and elderly persons.

Data sources and availability

Source: the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) is a large sample, quarterly survey providing results for the population in private households in the EU, EFTA and the candidate countries. Conscripts in military or community service are not included in the results.

Reference period: Yearly results are obtained as averages of the four quarters in the year.

Coverage: The data for France cover the metropolitan territory (excluding overseas regions) Country codes: Belgium (BE), Bulgaria (BG), the Czech Republic (CZ), Denmark (DK), Germany (DE), Estonia (EE), Ireland (IE), Greece (EL), Spain (ES), France (FR), Croatia (HR), Italy (IT), Cyprus (CY), Latvia (LV), Lithuania (LT), Luxembourg (LU), Hungary (HU), Malta (MT), the Netherlands (NL), Austria (AT), Poland (PL), Portugal (PT), Romania (RO), Slovenia (SI), Slovakia (SK), Finland (FI), Sweden (SE), the United Kingdom (UK), Iceland (IS), Norway (NO), Switzerland (CH), the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (MK), Turkey (TR). The abbreviation MK used for the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is a provisional code which does not prejudice in any way the definitive nomenclature for this country, which will be agreed following the conclusion of negotiations currently taking place on this subject at the United Nations.

European aggregates: EU refers to the sum of EU-28 Member States and EA to the sum of the 19 euro area Member States. If data are unavailable for a country, the calculation of the corresponding aggregates takes into account the data for the same country for the most recent period available. Such cases are indicated.

Definitions: The concepts and definitions used in the survey follow the guidelines of the International Labour Organisation. Employment covers persons aged 15 years and over (16 and over in Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom, 15-74 years in Estonia, Latvia, Hungary, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and 16-74 years in Iceland), living in private households, who during the reference week performed work, even for just one hour, for pay, profit or family gain, or were not at work but had a job or business from which they were temporarily absent, for example because of illness, holidays, industrial dispute or education and training.

The LFS employment concept differs from national accounts domestic employment, as the latter sets no limit on age or type of household, and also includes the non-resident population contributing to GDP and conscripts in military or community service.

Unemployment covers persons aged 15-74 (16-74 in Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and Iceland) who were not employed during the reference week, were currently available for work and had either been actively seeking work in the past four weeks or had already found a job starting within the next three months.

Long-term unemployment covers persons unemployed for one year or more. Youth unemployment is unemployment of persons aged 15 to 24. Citizenship is defined according to the national legislation of each country.

Definitions of indicators reported in this publication are available on the EU-LFS Statistics Explained website: EU Labour Force Survey (Statistics Explained)

Context

The EU-LFS is the largest European household sample survey providing quarterly and annual results on labour participation of people aged 15 and over as well as on persons outside the labour force. It covers residents in private households. The EU-LFS is an important source of information about the situation and trends in the EU labour market.

Each quarter around 1.8 million interviews are conducted throughout the participating countries to obtain statistical information for some 100 variables. Due to the diversity of information and the large sample size the EU-LFS is also an important source for other European statistics like Education statistics or Regional statistics.

See also

Further Eurostat information

Publications

Main tables

Database

Dedicated section

Methodology / Metadata

Notes

  1. ↑ The employment rate of foreign citizens is calculated as the proportion of foreign citizens aged 15-64 of the total number of foreigners aged 15-64 residing in the country.
  2. ↑ The figure for Latvia lack reliability due to small sample size.
  3. ↑ Family members include spouses and children in the same household with less than two years residence in an EU Member State other than their country of citizenship or with a non-EU citizenship.


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