The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate across the European Union stood at 6.0% in April 2026, stable with the previous month as well as the same month in 2025, new data from Eurostat has found.
The unemployment rate in the euro area specifically, meanwhile, was 6.3% for the month, also unchanged from March and from the same month a year earlier.
Over 13 million unemployed
Eurostat estimated that 13.24 million people were unemployed across the EU in April, including 11.08 million in the euro area.
Compared with March 2026, the number of unemployed people fell by 137,000 across the EU and by 84,000 in the euro area. However, compared with April 2025, unemployment increased slightly, rising by 82,000 in the EU and by 45,000 in the euro area.
In terms of youth unemployment, meanwhile, some 2.91 million people under the age of 25 were unemployed across the EU as of April 2026, including 2.34 million in the euro area.
The youth unemployment rate declined to 15.1% in the EU, from 15.6% in March, while in the euro area it fell to 14.7% from 15.1%.
Finland reports highest unemployment rate
Finland reported the highest unemployment rate in the European Union in April, of 10.6%, followed by Spain (10.3%), Greece (9.5%), Sweden (8.6%) and France (8.2%).
The lowest overall unemployment rates in April were recorded in Bulgaria (2.8%), Czechia (3.1%), Poland (3.0%) and Cyprus (3.2%).
Spain continued to report the highest youth unemployment rate in the EU at 23.7%, followed by Sweden at 24.4%, Romania at 28.8% and Finland at 22.2%. Germany recorded one of the lowest youth unemployment rates at 7.2%.
In terms of gender, female unemployment stood at 6.5% in April compared with 6.0% for men. Across the EU, the unemployment rate was 6.2% for women and 5.8% for men. Read more here.
