EU countries by employment rate

Name: EU countries by employment rate, 2020
Creator: Eurostat, European Commission
License: Eurostat reuse policy (commercial and non-commercial reuse, attribution required)

The Netherlands had the highest employment rate of 27 EU countries in 2020, at 80.8%. Greece had the lowest, at 58.3%. The median was 74.8% and the figure for the European Union (27) was 71.7%. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest80.8Netherlands

Lowest58.3Greece

Median74.827 EU countries

European Union (27)71.7History

All EU countries, 2020

CSV Chart (SVG)

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

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2020 (%)	Change on 2019
1	Netherlands	80.8	-0.2 pts
2	Sweden	80.2	-1.5 pts
3	Czechia	79.7	-0.6 pts
4	Estonia	79.1	-1.4 pts
5	Germany Series break	78.3	-1.4 pts
6	Denmark	77.8	-0.5 pts
7	Hungary	77.6	-0.1 pts
8	Latvia	76.9	-0.4 pts
9	Lithuania	76.7	-1.5 pts
10	Malta	76	+0.4 pts
11	Finland	75.5	-0.7 pts
12	Cyprus	75.2	-0.6 pts
13	Austria	74.8	-2 pts
13	Slovenia	74.8	-1.1 pts
15	Slovakia	74.6	-1 pts
16	Portugal	73.9	-1.5 pts
17	Poland	72.8	+0.2 pts
18	Bulgaria	72.7	-1.6 pts
19	Ireland	72.1	-2.9 pts
19	Luxembourg	72.1	-0.7 pts
21	France	72	-0.2 pts
22	Belgium	69.7	-0.8 pts
23	Croatia	66.9	+0.5 pts
24	Spain	65.7	-2.3 pts
25	Romania	65.2	+0.1 pts
26	Italy	61.9	-1.6 pts
27	Greece	58.3	-2.5 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?

The Netherlands, with 80.8% in 2020, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest employment rate?

Greece, with 58.3% in 2020.

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.