What EU country reported the highest unemployment rate in May 2025?

Spain continues to be the EU country with the highest seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate, reporting a rate of 10.8% in May 2025, according to Eurostat.

Other countries to report a high inflation rate for the month included Sweden, with a rate of 9.0%, Finland (8.7%), Greece (7.9%) and Estonia (7.8%).

At the other end of the scale, Malta reported the lowest unemployment rate (2.7%) in the European Union in May 2025, followed by Czechia (2.8%), Poland (3.3%) and Bulgaria.

Unemployment rate in the EU

Across the EU, the unemployment rate remained steady at 5.9% in May 2025, unchanged from the previous month, and down marginally on the 6.0% registered one year earlier.

In the euro area, meanwhile, the unemployment rate rose to 6.3% in May, up from 6.2% in April, however it is still down on the 6.4% recorded in the corresponding month a year earlier.

According to the data, approximately 13.05 million individuals were unemployed across the EU in May, an increase of around 103,000, with 10.83 million of those located within the euro area (+73,000).

Youth unemployment also reported a modest increase, with the unemployment rate for individuals under 25 years of age reaching 14.8% in the EU and 14.4% in the euro area, Eurostat noted.

Expert comment

Commenting on the unemployment rate, Bert Colijn, chief economist with ING in the Netherlands, said, “In the major eurozone economies, unemployment rates remained relatively stable, except Italy, which experienced an increase from 6.1% to 6.5% in May. The Italian unemployment rate has been volatile, though, and employment expectations in Italy have remained strong in recent months.

“Overall, southern European labour markets have been stronger in recent months and are expected to remain so in the months ahead.” Read more here and here.

Unemployment Rate by EU Member State – May 2025 (%)