EU countries by labour market slack

Spain had the highest labour market slack of 27 EU countries in 2014, at 35%. Czechia had the lowest, at 8%. The median was 17.8% and the figure for the European Union (27) was 19.5%. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest35Spain

Lowest8Czechia

Median17.827 EU countries

European Union (27)19.5History

Map of EU countries, 2014

Under 13
13 to 15
15 to 19
19 to 23
23 and over

%, 2014. Source: Eurostat, Labour market slack as a percentage of the extended labour force, 15 to 74 years (lfsi_sla_a). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2014

%. Source: Eurostat, Labour market slack as a percentage of the extended labour force, 15 to 74 years (lfsi_sla_a). Retrieved 2026-10-18.

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2014 (%)	Change on 2013
1	Spain	35	-1.6 pts
2	Greece	33.6	-0.7 pts
3	Cyprus	27.8	+1.7 pts
4	Italy	27	+1.5 pts
5	Croatia	26.2	-1.1 pts
6	Portugal	23.8	-2.8 pts
7	Netherlands	21.8	+0.5 pts
8	Finland	21.4	+1.1 pts
9	Ireland	20.1	-3 pts
10	France	20	n/a
11	Bulgaria	19.4	-2 pts
12	Slovenia	18.9	+1.1 pts
13	Sweden	17.9	-0.5 pts
14	Latvia	17.8	-2.2 pts
15	Romania	16.3	-0.7 pts
16	Slovakia	15.6	-1 pts
17	Poland	15.3	-1.5 pts
18	Belgium	14.9	-0.3 pts
19	Lithuania	14.1	-1.5 pts
20	Luxembourg	13.3	-0.1 pts
21	Austria	13.2	+0.7 pts
22	Estonia	12.7	-1.5 pts
23	Hungary	12.6	-3.6 pts
24	Denmark	12	-1 pts
25	Malta	9.5	-1.2 pts
26	Germany	9.2	-0.6 pts
27	Czechia	8	-1.1 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

Unmet demand for work among people aged 15 to 74: the unemployed, part-time workers who want to work more hours, people available to work but not seeking, and people seeking work but not immediately available, as a percentage of the extended labour force (the labour force plus the last two groups).

Wider than the unemployment rate, which counts only the first group over the labour force. From the EU labour force survey. Eurostat flags series breaks (most in 2021, under the new framework regulation for social statistics); they are stored as status break.

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. Labour market slack as a percentage of the extended labour force, 15 to 74 years (lfsi_sla_a). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/lfsi_sla_a/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-18.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

Eurostat, European Commission. (2026). Labour market slack as a percentage of the extended labour force, 15 to 74 years (lfsi_sla_a) (EU countries by labour market slack, 2014) [Data set]. Retrieved October 18, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/lfsi_sla_a/default/table

MLA 9

Labour market slack as a percentage of the extended labour force, 15 to 74 years (lfsi_sla_a), EU countries by labour market slack, 2014. Eurostat, European Commission, 10 Sept. 2026, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/lfsi_sla_a/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/labour-market-slack/eu-countries?period=2014. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Labour market slack as a percentage of the extended labour force, 15 to 74 years (lfsi_sla_a). EU countries by labour market slack, 2014. Dataset. Accessed October 18, 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/lfsi_sla_a/default/table. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/labour-market-slack/eu-countries?period=2014.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Labour market slack as a percentage of the extended labour force, 15 to 74 years (lfsi_sla_a), EU countries by labour market slack, 2014 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/lfsi_sla_a/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/labour-market-slack/eu-countries?period=2014 (Accessed: 18 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_labour_2014,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Labour market slack as a percentage of the extended labour force, 15 to 74 years (lfsi\_sla\_a): EU countries by labour market slack, 2014}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/lfsi_sla_a/default/table},
  urldate = {2026-10-18},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/labour-market-slack/eu-countries?period=2014. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Labour market slack as a percentage of the extended labour force, 15 to 74 years (lfsi\_sla\_a). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/lfsi\_sla\_a/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-18.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - Eurostat, European Commission
TI  - Labour market slack as a percentage of the extended labour force, 15 to 74 years (lfsi_sla_a): EU countries by labour market slack, 2014
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/10
PB  - Eurostat, European Commission
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/lfsi_sla_a/default/table
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/labour-market-slack/eu-countries?period=2014
Y2  - 2026/10/18
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/labour-market-slack/eu-countries?period=2014.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Labour market slack as a percentage of the extended labour force, 15 to 74 years (lfsi_sla_a). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/lfsi_sla_a/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
ER  -

Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Embed code

<iframe src="https://invokely.ai/embed/rankings/labour-market-slack/eu-countries?period=2014" width="760" height="500" title="EU countries by labour market slack, 2014, chart from Invokely" loading="lazy" style="border:0;width:100%;max-width:760px" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin"></iframe>

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

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 labour market slack using official data, and cite the source.

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

Spain, with 35% in 2014, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest labour market slack?

Czechia, with 8% in 2014.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Eurostat, European Commission, Labour market slack as a percentage of the extended labour force, 15 to 74 years (lfsi_sla_a). Retrieved 2026-10-18.