In 2025, the unemployment rate in the EU was 6.0% for people aged 15-74 in the labour force, up slightly from 5.9% in 2024.
Among EU countries, Spain had the highest unemployment rate at 10.5%, followed by Finland (9.7%) and Greece (8.9%). The lowest rates were in Czechia (2.8%), Poland and Malta (both 3.1%).
Source dataset: une_rt_a
People with lower education have higher unemployment rates
People with low level of education experienced higher unemployment rates across the EU. In 2025, the unemployment rate of people aged 25 to 74 with low educational attainment stood at 10.5%, compared with 4.7% for those with medium educational attainment and 3.6% for those with high education.
The highest unemployment rates for people with low education were in Slovakia (38.8%), Sweden (20.0%) and Finland (18.8%). These countries also showed the largest gaps in unemployment rates between people with low and high educational attainment. The gap was 36.7 percentage points in Slovakia (38.8% for people with low educational attainment, compared with 2.1% for those with high educational attainment), 14.9 percentage points in Sweden (20.0% vs 5.1%), and 13.9 percentage points in Finland (18.8% vs 4.9%).
Source dataset: une_educ_a