Finland reported the highest unemployment rate in the EU in December 2025, new data from Eurostat has revealed.
Spain (10.0%) was the only other EU country to report a double-digit unemployment rate for the month, the data showed, with high rates also recorded in Sweden (8.8%), France (7.7%), Greece (7.5%) and Latvia (7.0%).
The lowest unemployment rate in December was recorded in Czechia (3.1%), with Malta and Poland both boasting an unemployment rate of 3.2%.
Unemployment rate in the EU
Across the European Union, the unemployment rate stood at 5.9% in December, unchanged from both the previous month and the corresponding month a year earlier. In the euro area specifically, the unemployment rate stood at 6.2%.
According to Eurostat, some 13.043 million people were unemployed in the EU in December, of which 10.792 million were in the euro area.
The number of unemployed people across the EU fell by 94,000 compared to the previous month, however on a year-on-year basis, numbers rose by 71,000.
Elsewhere, the youth unemployment rate (for those under the age of 25) fell to 14.7% in the EU in December, down from 14.9% the previous month, with some 2.857 million people under the age of 25 unemployed in the month.
Slightly more women (6.0%) than men (5.8%) were unemployed in December, according to the data. Read more here.
Unemployment Rate by EU Member State – December 2025 (%)
| Country | Unemployment Rate (%) |
|---|---|
| Belgium | 6.4 |
| Bulgaria | 3.3 |
| Czechia | 3.1 |
| Denmark | 5.6 |
| Germany | 3.8 |
| Estonia | 6.3 |
| Ireland | 5.0 |
| Greece | 7.5 |
| Spain | 10.0 |
| France | 7.7 |
| Croatia | 4.5 |
| Italy | 5.6 |
| Cyprus | 4.3 |
| Latvia | 7.0 |
| Lithuania | 6.6 |
| Luxembourg | 6.9 |
| Hungary | 4.5 |
| Malta | 3.2 |
| Netherlands | 4.0 |
| Austria | 5.8 |
| Poland | 3.2 |
| Portugal | 5.6 |
| Romania | 6.0 |
| Slovenia | 5.1 |
| Slovakia | 5.8 |
| Finland | 10.3 |
| Sweden | 8.8 |
