The employment rate for 20- to 64-year-olds in the European Union rose to 76.4% in the second quarter of 2026, up marginally from 76.3% in the previous quarter, according to new data from Eurostat.
The figures are seasonally adjusted and come from the latest EU Labour Force Survey data.
Labour market slack, which measures the proportion of the extended labour force with an unmet need for employment, stood at 11.0% in the second quarter, unchanged from Q1, the data showed.
Some 14 EU countries recorded increases in employment rate in the period, while four countries saw employment remain stable, and nine reported declines.
Leading the increase
Portugal and Malta, which both saw a 0.6 percentage point increase, recorded the biggest quarterly rise, followed by Greece (+0.5 pp), Latvia (+0.4 pp) and Slovenia (+0.4 pp).
The biggest decreases, meanwhile, were recorded in Austria (-0.4 pp), Lithuania (-0.3 pp) and Sweden (-0.3 pp).
The highest employment rates in the period were recorded in Malta (84.0%), Netherlands (83.2%), Czechia (83.1%) and Cyprus (82.3%). Read more here.
Unemployment Rate by EU Member State, Q2 2026
| Country | Unemployment Rate (%) |
|---|---|
| Belgium | 72.9 |
| Bulgaria | 76.8 |
| Czechia | 83.1 |
| Denmark | 79.5 |
| Germany | 81.5 |
| Estonia | 81.9 |
| Ireland | 79.8 |
| Greece | 72.2 |
| Spain | 73.0 |
| France | 75.1 |
| Croatia | 74.8 |
| Italy | 68.2 |
| Cyprus | 82.3 |
| Latvia | 78.3 |
| Lithuania | 80.3 |
| Luxembourg | 72.8 |
| Hungary | 81.1 |
| Malta | 84.0 |
| Netherlands | 83.2 |
| Austria | 77.6 |
| Poland | 79.4 |
| Portugal | 80.7 |
| Romania | 68.4 |
| Slovenia | 78.6 |
| Slovakia | 78.2 |
| Finland | 75.6 |
| Sweden | 81.9 |
