What country has the highest employment rate in the European Union?

The Netherlands has the highest employment rate in the European Union, with a rate of 82.4% employment as of 2023, according to Eurostat data.

Other countries to boast a notably high employment rate include Malta (77.8%), Sweden (77.4%) and Germany (77.2%).

At the other end of the scale, Italy boasts an employment rate of 61.5%, followed by Greece (61.8%), Romania (63.0%) and Spain (65.3%).

The employment rate for the European Union as a whole stood at 75.3% last year, a 0.7 percentage-point increase on the previous year.

Regional employment levels

On a regional basis, the Polish capital region, Warszawski stołeczny, led, with an employment rate of 86.5%, followed by Bratislavský kraj in Slovakia at 85.8%, and Trier in Germany at 85.4%.

On the other end of the spectrum, three southern Italian regions—Calabria, Campania, and Sicilia—recorded employment rates below 50%, highlighting significant regional disparities within the EU.

Italy’s regions showed the largest employment rate disparities, with a coefficient of variation of 16.3%, outpacing Belgium (8.5%) and Romania (7.7%).

At the same time, countries such as Portugal, Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands displayed the lowest regional disparities, with a coefficient of variation of 2% or less.

Capital regions

In general terms, capital regions in Eastern European and Baltic countries, as well as in Denmark, Ireland, Spain, and Sweden, tended to exhibit the highest employment rates within their respective countries.

However, in some countries, such as as Belgium, Germany, and Austria, the lowest employment rates are recorded in their capital regions. Read more here.

Employment rate by EU country, 2023 (%)