EU countries by labour market slack

Spain had the highest labour market slack of 27 EU countries in 2024, at 19.3%. Poland had the lowest, at 5%. The median was 10.7% and the figure for the European Union (27) was 11.8%. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest19.3Spain

Lowest5Poland

Median10.727 EU countries

European Union (27)11.8History

Map of EU countries, 2024

Under 6.5
6.5 to 9.5
9.5 to 11
11 to 14
14 and over

%, 2024. 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, 2024

%. 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	2024 (%)	Change on 2023
1	Spain	19.3	-0.9 pts
2	Finland	17.9	+2.1 pts
3	Sweden	17.8	+1.4 pts
4	Italy	15.8	-1.9 pts
5	France	14.7	-0.1 pts
6	Greece	14.4	-1.9 pts
7	Luxembourg	13.9	+1 pts
8	Estonia	12.8	+1.3 pts
9	Denmark	12.7	+2.6 pts
10	Ireland	12.5	+0.5 pts
11	Belgium	11.2	+0.4 pts
11	Netherlands	11.2	-0.2 pts
13	Portugal	11	-0.8 pts
14	Austria	10.7	+0.1 pts
15	Latvia	10.6	+0.5 pts
16	Lithuania	10.3	+0.1 pts
17	Romania	8.9	-0.2 pts
18	Cyprus	8.7	-1.7 pts
19	Croatia	8	-1.8 pts
20	Germany	7.3	+0.4 pts
21	Slovakia	7	-0.2 pts
22	Bulgaria Series break	6.4	-0.7 pts
22	Czechia	6.4	0 pts
24	Hungary	6.3	+0.3 pts
24	Slovenia	6.3	-0.2 pts
26	Malta	5.2	0 pts
27	Poland	5	+0.2 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, 2024) [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, 2024. 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=2024. 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, 2024. 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=2024.

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, 2024 [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=2024 (Accessed: 18 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_labour_2024,
  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, 2024}},
  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=2024. 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, 2024
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=2024
Y2  - 2026/10/18
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/labour-market-slack/eu-countries?period=2024.
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  -

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Questions

Which EU country has the highest labour market slack?

Spain, with 19.3% in 2024, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest labour market slack?

Poland, with 5% in 2024.

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.