The EU employment rate for 20 to 64-year-olds reached a record high of 76.1% in 2025, representing 197.7 million people. This marks the highest share recorded since the time series began in 2009.
- The employment rate rose 0.3 percentage points from 2024 and 0.8 percentage points from 2023.
- Malta, the Netherlands, and Czechia recorded the highest employment shares in the region.
- A 9.6 percentage point gender gap persists in employment across the European Union.
The 2025 figures show a steady climb in workforce participation, with the employment rate increasing by 0.3 percentage points compared to 2024.
Among EU countries, the highest employment rates were recorded in Malta (83.6%), the Netherlands (83.4%), and Czechia (82.9%). In contrast, the lowest rates were found in Italy (67.6%), Romania (69.0%), and Greece (71.0%).
EU Employment Rate Disparity Between Men and Women
Men maintained a higher employment rate than women in every EU country except for Lithuania. The overall employment rate for men in the EU stood at 80.9%.
The highest rates for men were registered in Malta (89.1%), Czechia (88.2%), and the Netherlands (87.2%), while Belgium (76.4%), Croatia (76.8%), and Finland (77.0%) recorded the lowest shares.
The employment rate for women in the EU was 71.3%. The highest levels were found in Estonia (81.4%), Lithuania (80.3%), and Sweden (79.8%), while Italy (58.0%), Romania (59.5%), and Greece (62.3%) recorded the lowest shares.
The gender gap in employment rates across the EU averaged 9.6 percentage points. The largest differences were registered in Italy (19.1 pp), Romania (18.7 pp), and Greece (17.4 pp).
The smallest gaps were recorded in Estonia (0.5 pp), Lithuania (-0.6 pp), Finland (1.3 pp), and Latvia (1.9 pp). Data is based on the lfsi_emp_a dataset.
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