Unemployment rate varied widely across EU regions

In 2022, the unemployment rate of people aged 15-74 in the EU was 6.2%. However, the rate varied across the EU’s NUTS 2 regions.
The lowest unemployment rates were recorded in Central Bohemia (1.2%), Prague (1.6%), South-East and South-West in Czechia as well as Central Transdanubia in Hungary (all 1.7%).
At the opposite end of the scale, the highest unemployment rates were registered in the Spanish regions of Ceuta (28.4%), Melilla (21.6%) and Andalusia (19.0%), along with the outermost region Guadeloupe in France (18.6%).
Source dataset: lfst_r_lfu3rt
Compared with 2021, the highest increases in the unemployment rate were registered in the Spanish regions of Melilla and Ceuta (both +1.8 percentage points; pp), as well as in the outermost region of Guadeloupe in France (+1.5 pp). The highest decreases were recorded in the South Aegean region in Greece (-8.1 pp), the Canary Islands region in Spain (-5.6 pp) and Western Greece (-4.9 pp).
Almost 2 percentage point decrease for young people
In 2022, the EU average unemployment rate for young people aged between 15 and 29 was 11.3% (-1.7 pp compared with 2021).
Source dataset: lfst_r_lfu3rt
However, there were marked regional differences in the unemployment rates for young people. The regions with the lowest rates were Central Bohemia (1.7%), South-West (3.1%) and Prague (3.2%) in Czechia, Upper Bavaria in Germany (3.3%), closely followed by West Transdanubia in Hungary (3.6%).
In contrast, the highest rates were recorded in Ceuta in Spain (42.4%), the Greek region of Thessaly (39.8%), Central Greece (36.5%), and another region in Spain, Melilla (36.1%). Campania and Sicily in Italy (both 34.2%) and West Macedonia in Greece (34.3%) also had high rates of unemployment among young people.
For more information
- Statistics Explained article on unemployment statistics at regional level
- Thematic section on the labour market (including the Labour Force Survey)
- Database on employment and unemployment (Labour force survey)
- Statistics 4 Beginners on the labour market
- Thematic section on regions
- Database on regions
Methodological notes:
- These data on regional unemployment are compiled on the basis of the EU Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS).
- The names of the regions presented in the article are English translations of the original names.
- Youth unemployment rate: the number of unemployed people aged 15 to 29 as a percentage of the labour force of the same age.
- Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta and Iceland: single regions at this level of detail.
- Unemployment rate 15-74 not available in 2022:
- Germany
- DE22 Lower Bavaria
- DE23 Oberpfalz
- DEB2 Trier
- France
- FRY5 Mayotte
- Poland
- PL43 Lubuskie
- Finland
- FI20 Åland Islands
- Germany
- Unemployment rate 15-29 not available in 2022:
- Germany
- DE13 Freiburg
- DE14 Tübingen
- DE22 Lower Bavaria
- DE23 Oberpfalz
- DE24 Oberfranken
- DE25 Mittelfranken
- DE26 Unterfranken
- DE27 Swabia
- DE50 Bremen
- DE72 Giessen
- DE73 Kassel
- DE80 Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
- DE91 Braunschweig
- DE92 Hannover
- DE93 Lüneburg
- DEA4 Detmold
- DEB1 Koblenz
- DEB2 Trier
- DEB3 Rheinhessen-Pfalz
- DEC0 Saarland
- DED2 Dresden
- DED4 Chemnitz
- DED5 Leipzig
- DEG0 Thuringia
- France
- FRY5 Mayotte
- FRM0 Corsica
- Italy
- ITC2 Valle d'Aosta
- Austria
- AT11 Burgenland
- AT34 Vorarlberg
- Poland
- PL42 Zachodniopomorskie
- PL43 Lubuskie
- PL52 Opolskie
- PL62 Warmińsko-mazurskie
- PL63 Pomorskie
- PL72 Świętokrzyskie
- PL84 Podlaskie
- PL91 Warsaw-Capital
- Portugal
- PT20 Azores
- Slovakia
- SK01 Bratislava
- Finland
- FI20 Åland Islands
- Germany
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