EU countries by activity rate

Name: EU countries by activity rate, 2021
Creator: Eurostat, European Commission
License: Eurostat reuse policy (commercial and non-commercial reuse, attribution required)

The Netherlands had the highest activity rate of 27 EU countries in 2021, at 83.7%. Italy had the lowest, at 64.5%. The median was 75% and the figure for the European Union (27) was 73.6%. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest83.7Netherlands

Lowest64.5Italy

Median7527 EU countries

European Union (27)73.6History

All EU countries, 2021

CSV Chart (SVG)

%. Source: Eurostat. Retrieved 2026-10-08.

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2021 (%)	Change on 2020
1	Netherlands	83.7	+0.3 pts
2	Sweden	82.6	+0.5 pts
3	Denmark	79.6	+0.6 pts
4	Estonia	79.1	-0.5 pts
5	Finland	78.8	+1.5 pts
6	Germany	78.7	+1.2 pts
7	Lithuania	78.2	-0.3 pts
8	Cyprus	77.7	+0.8 pts
9	Austria	77.2	+0.8 pts
10	Malta	77.1	+1.1 pts
11	Czechia	76.6	+0.2 pts
12	Hungary	76.3	+1.1 pts
13	Latvia	75.8	-2.2 pts
14	Slovenia	75	+1.2 pts
15	Portugal	74.8	+1.2 pts
16	Ireland Series break	74.6	+3.8 pts
16	Slovakia	74.6	+0.1 pts
18	Spain	73.7	+1.5 pts
19	Luxembourg	73.2	+1 pts
20	France	73	+1.1 pts
21	Poland	72.9	+2.7 pts
22	Bulgaria	72.3	-0.3 pts
23	Belgium	69.7	+1.3 pts
24	Croatia	69	+1.8 pts
25	Greece	67.3	+2 pts
26	Romania	65.6	+1.5 pts
27	Italy	64.5	+1 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

Labour force (employed plus unemployed) as a percentage of the population aged 16 and over (Spain, EPA) or 15 to 64 (EU).

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the EU countries are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Eurostat. Employment and activity by sex and age, annual data, activity rate 15 to 64 (lfsi_emp_a). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/lfsi_emp_a/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-08.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank EU countries by activity rate using official data, and cite the source.

rank_places {"indicator":"activity_rate","level":"country","within":"European Union (27)","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=activity_rate&level=country&within=European%20Union%20(27)&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which EU country has the highest activity rate?

The Netherlands, with 83.7% in 2021, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest activity rate?

Italy, with 64.5% in 2021.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Eurostat, European Commission, Employment and activity by sex and age, annual data, activity rate 15 to 64 (lfsi_emp_a). Retrieved 2026-10-08.