Around one in twelve (7.9%) Europeans aged between 20 and 29 are self-employed, equating to around 2.06 million people, new data from Eurostat has revealed.
‘As technology reshapes workplaces at an unprecedented pace, some young people are finding their own ways to make a living, turning to self-employment out of creativity and innovation or necessity,’ the statistics body noted.
The highest share of self-employed young people waist Slovakia, at 12.2%, followed by Malta (10.5%) and Romania (10.3%).
At the other end of the scale, Ireland (5.1%) boasted the lowest share of self-employed young people, followed by Bulgaria (5.3%) and Spain (5.9%).
Employment rates
Eurostat also reported the latest employment rates for people in the 20 to 29 age cohort, noting that in 2025, the employment rate in this age group in the EU stood at 65.6%, compared with 59.3% in 2015, Eurostat noted.
The Netherlands recorded an employment rate among young people of 84.0%. Malta recorded 82.1%, and Germany recorded 77.0%. At the other end of the scale, Italy recorded a rate of 47.6%, followed by Romania (52.0%) and Bulgaria (52.7%).
Eurostat’s data was published in connection with World Creativity and Innovation Day, which took place on 21 April. Read more here.
