EU countries by employment rate

Name: EU countries by employment rate, 2019
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 2019, at 81.7%. Greece had the lowest, at 60.8%. The median was 75.6% and the figure for the European Union (27) was 72.7%. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest81.7Sweden

Lowest60.8Greece

Median75.627 EU countries

European Union (27)72.7History

All EU countries, 2019

CSV Chart (SVG)

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

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2019 (%)	Change on 2018
1	Sweden	81.7	-0.3 pts
2	Netherlands	81	+1 pts
3	Estonia	80.5	+0.8 pts
4	Czechia	80.3	+0.4 pts
5	Germany	79.7	+0.7 pts
6	Denmark	78.3	+0.8 pts
7	Lithuania	78.2	+0.4 pts
8	Hungary	77.7	+0.9 pts
9	Latvia	77.3	+0.5 pts
10	Austria	76.8	+0.6 pts
11	Finland	76.2	+0.9 pts
12	Slovenia	75.9	+1 pts
13	Cyprus	75.8	+1.9 pts
14	Malta	75.6	+0.7 pts
14	Slovakia	75.6	+1.1 pts
16	Portugal	75.4	+0.8 pts
17	Ireland	75	+1 pts
18	Bulgaria Series break	74.3	+2.6 pts
19	Luxembourg	72.8	+0.7 pts
20	Poland Series break	72.6	+1.2 pts
21	France	72.2	+0.3 pts
22	Belgium	70.5	+0.8 pts
23	Spain	68	+1 pts
24	Croatia	66.4	+1.5 pts
25	Romania	65.1	+1.2 pts
26	Italy	63.5	+0.5 pts
27	Greece	60.8	+1.8 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 81.7% in 2019, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest employment rate?

Greece, with 60.8% in 2019.

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.