EU countries by employment rate of recent graduates

Luxembourg had the highest employment rate of recent graduates of 27 EU countries in 2022, at 93.4%. Italy had the lowest, at 65.2%. The median was 83.9% and the figure for the European Union (27) was 82.4%. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest93.4Luxembourg

Lowest65.2Italy

Median83.927 EU countries

European Union (27)82.4History

Map of EU countries, 2022

Under 79
79 to 83
83 to 85
85 to 88
88 and over

%, 2022. 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, 2022

%. 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	2022 (%)	Change on 2021
1	Luxembourg	93.4	+10 pts
2	Netherlands	92.9	-0.5 pts
3	Germany	92.2	+1 pts
4	Malta	89.9	+2.3 pts
5	Hungary	89.3	+3.7 pts
6	Austria	88.4	+0.7 pts
6	Sweden	88.4	+1.3 pts
8	Ireland	87.3	+0.8 pts
9	Latvia	85.3	+7.2 pts
10	Denmark	85.1	+1 pts
11	Poland	84.9	+7 pts
12	Slovenia	84.2	-0.9 pts
13	Finland	83.9	+2.4 pts
13	Slovakia Series break	83.9	+4.4 pts
15	Lithuania	83.4	+3.5 pts
16	Belgium	82.9	-0.3 pts
17	Cyprus	82.4	+1.5 pts
18	Czechia	82.2	-2 pts
19	Portugal	82.1	+6.3 pts
20	Croatia	79.7	+3.9 pts
21	Bulgaria	79	+5.1 pts
22	Spain	78.8	+7.6 pts
23	France	78.6	+0.5 pts
24	Estonia	77.4	-3.4 pts
25	Romania	69.9	-0.2 pts
26	Greece	66.1	+6 pts
27	Italy	65.2	+7.3 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, 2022) [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, 2022. 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?period=2022. 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, 2022. 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?period=2022.

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, 2022 [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?period=2022 (Accessed: 18 October 2026).

BibTeX

@misc{eurostat_eu_countries_by_employment_2022,
  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, 2022}},
  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?period=2022. 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, 2022
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?period=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/18
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/recent-graduates-employment-rate/eu-countries?period=2022.
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?

Luxembourg, with 93.4% in 2022, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

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

Italy, with 65.2% in 2022.

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.