EU countries by employment rate of recent graduates, 2025

Malta had the highest employment rate of recent graduates of 27 EU countries in 2025, at 91%. Greece had the lowest, at 62.4%. The median was 84.6% and the figure for the European Union (27) was 82.9%. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest91Malta

Lowest62.4Greece

Median84.627 EU countries

European Union (27)82.9History

Map of EU countries, 2025

Under 80
80 to 83
83 to 85
85 to 87
87 and over

%, 2025. Source: Eurostat, Employment rate of people aged 20 to 34 not in education or training, 1 to 3 years after completing upper secondary or tertiary education (edat_lfse_24). Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

All EU countries, 2025

%. Source: Eurostat, Employment rate of people aged 20 to 34 not in education or training, 1 to 3 years after completing upper secondary or tertiary education (edat_lfse_24). Retrieved 2026-10-18.

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2025 (%)	Change on 2024
1	Malta	91	+2.1 pts
2	Germany	90.6	+0.2 pts
3	Netherlands	90.1	-1.5 pts
4	Ireland	89.1	+1.4 pts
5	Austria	87.9	+1.4 pts
6	Sweden	87	+1.2 pts
7	Hungary	86.7	-1.3 pts
8	Czechia	86.5	0 pts
9	Lithuania	86.4	+8.3 pts
10	Denmark Series break	85.5	+0.5 pts
11	Luxembourg	84.8	+6.9 pts
11	Slovakia	84.8	-3.5 pts
13	Slovenia	84.7	+0.1 pts
14	Poland	84.6	+0.1 pts
15	Latvia	83.1	+6.2 pts
16	Belgium	82.9	+3.2 pts
17	Cyprus	82.3	-1 pts
18	Portugal	82.2	+2.5 pts
19	Bulgaria	81.2	+0.3 pts
19	Spain	81.2	+2.6 pts
21	Estonia	81	-3.4 pts
22	Finland	79.5	-3 pts
23	Croatia	78.1	-3.3 pts
24	France	77.8	+1 pts
25	Romania	72.7	-2.3 pts
26	Italy	71.8	+2.2 pts
27	Greece	62.4	-10.8 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

Employed people aged 20 to 34 who completed upper secondary or tertiary education (ISCED 2011 levels 3 to 8) one to three years before the survey and are no longer in education or training, as a percentage of all people in that group.

The indicator of the EU target that 82% of recent graduates should be employed by 2030. 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. Employment rate of people aged 20 to 34 not in education or training, 1 to 3 years after completing upper secondary or tertiary education (edat_lfse_24). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/edat_lfse_24/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). Employment rate of people aged 20 to 34 not in education or training, 1 to 3 years after completing upper secondary or tertiary education (edat_lfse_24) (EU countries by employment rate of recent graduates, 2025) [Data set]. Retrieved October 18, 2026, from https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/edat_lfse_24/default/table

MLA 9

Employment rate of people aged 20 to 34 not in education or training, 1 to 3 years after completing upper secondary or tertiary education (edat_lfse_24), EU countries by employment rate of recent graduates, 2025. Eurostat, European Commission, 10 Sept. 2026, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/edat_lfse_24/default/table. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/recent-graduates-employment-rate/eu-countries. Accessed 18 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

Eurostat, European Commission. 2026. Employment rate of people aged 20 to 34 not in education or training, 1 to 3 years after completing upper secondary or tertiary education (edat_lfse_24). EU countries by employment rate of recent graduates, 2025. Dataset. Accessed October 18, 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/edat_lfse_24/default/table. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/recent-graduates-employment-rate/eu-countries.

Harvard

Eurostat, European Commission (2026) Employment rate of people aged 20 to 34 not in education or training, 1 to 3 years after completing upper secondary or tertiary education (edat_lfse_24), EU countries by employment rate of recent graduates, 2025 [Dataset]. Available at: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/edat_lfse_24/default/table, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/recent-graduates-employment-rate/eu-countries (Accessed: 18 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_employment_2025,
  author = {{Eurostat, European Commission}},
  title = {{Employment rate of people aged 20 to 34 not in education or training, 1 to 3 years after completing upper secondary or tertiary education (edat\_lfse\_24): EU countries by employment rate of recent graduates, 2025}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/edat_lfse_24/default/table},
  urldate = {2026-10-18},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/recent-graduates-employment-rate/eu-countries. Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Employment rate of people aged 20 to 34 not in education or training, 1 to 3 years after completing upper secondary or tertiary education (edat\_lfse\_24). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/edat\_lfse\_24/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-18.},
}

RIS

TY  - DATA
AU  - Eurostat, European Commission
TI  - Employment rate of people aged 20 to 34 not in education or training, 1 to 3 years after completing upper secondary or tertiary education (edat_lfse_24): EU countries by employment rate of recent graduates, 2025
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/10
PB  - Eurostat, European Commission
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/edat_lfse_24/default/table
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/recent-graduates-employment-rate/eu-countries
Y2  - 2026/10/18
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/recent-graduates-employment-rate/eu-countries.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Eurostat. Employment rate of people aged 20 to 34 not in education or training, 1 to 3 years after completing upper secondary or tertiary education (edat_lfse_24). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/edat_lfse_24/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-18.
ER  -

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rank_places {"indicator":"recent_graduates_employment_rate","level":"country","within":"European Union (27)","limit":10}
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Questions

Which EU country has the highest employment rate of recent graduates?

Malta, with 91% in 2025, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest employment rate of recent graduates?

Greece, with 62.4% in 2025.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: Eurostat, European Commission, Employment rate of people aged 20 to 34 not in education or training, 1 to 3 years after completing upper secondary or tertiary education (edat_lfse_24). Retrieved 2026-10-18.