EU countries by employment rate

Name: EU countries by employment rate, 2016
Creator: Eurostat, European Commission
License: Eurostat reuse policy (commercial and non-commercial reuse, attribution required)

Sweden had the highest employment rate of 27 EU countries in 2016, at 80.8%. Greece had the lowest, at 55.9%. The median was 71.1% and the figure for the European Union (27) was 69.6%. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest80.8Sweden

Lowest55.9Greece

Median71.127 EU countries

European Union (27)69.6History

All EU countries, 2016

CSV Chart (SVG)

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

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2016 (%)	Change on 2015
1	Sweden	80.8	+0.7 pts
2	Netherlands	77.9	+0.7 pts
3	Germany	77.6	+0.6 pts
4	Estonia	77	+0.3 pts
5	Czechia	76.7	+1.9 pts
6	Denmark Series break	76	+0.6 pts
7	Lithuania	75.2	+1.9 pts
8	Austria	74.8	+0.5 pts
9	Hungary	73.7	+2.8 pts
10	Latvia	73	+0.5 pts
11	Finland	72.4	+0.6 pts
12	Slovakia	71.8	+2.2 pts
13	Ireland	71.3	+1.5 pts
14	Malta	71.1	+2.1 pts
15	Luxembourg	70.7	-0.2 pts
16	France	70.6	+0.4 pts
17	Portugal	69.5	+1.6 pts
17	Slovenia	69.5	+0.9 pts
19	Cyprus	68.7	+0.8 pts
20	Poland	68.2	+1.9 pts
21	Belgium	67.7	+0.5 pts
22	Bulgaria	67	+0.5 pts
23	Spain	63.9	+1.9 pts
24	Italy	61.4	+1.2 pts
25	Croatia	61.3	+0.8 pts
26	Romania	60.3	+1.1 pts
27	Greece	55.9	+1.1 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

Employed people as a percentage of the population aged 16 and over (Spain, EPA) or 20 to 64 (EU headline indicator).

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, employment rate 20 to 64 (lfsi_emp_a). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/lfsi_emp_a/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-08.

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Questions

Which EU country has the highest employment rate?

Sweden, with 80.8% in 2016, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest employment rate?

Greece, with 55.9% in 2016.

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, employment rate 20 to 64 (lfsi_emp_a). Retrieved 2026-10-08.