EU countries by unemployment rate

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

Greece had the highest unemployment rate of 27 EU countries in 2020, at 17.6%. Czechia had the lowest, at 2.6%. The median was 6.7% and the figure for the European Union (27) was 7.2%. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest17.6Greece

Lowest2.6Czechia

Median6.727 EU countries

European Union (27)7.2History

All EU countries, 2020

CSV Chart (SVG)

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

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2020 (%)	Change on 2019
1	Greece	17.6	-0.3 pts
2	Spain	15.5	+1.4 pts
3	Italy	9.3	-0.6 pts
4	Lithuania	8.5	+2.2 pts
4	Sweden	8.5	+1.6 pts
6	France	8.1	-0.4 pts
6	Latvia	8.1	+1.8 pts
8	Finland	7.7	+0.9 pts
9	Cyprus	7.6	+0.4 pts
10	Croatia	7.4	+0.8 pts
11	Portugal	7.1	+0.5 pts
12	Estonia	6.9	+2.4 pts
13	Luxembourg	6.8	+1.2 pts
14	Slovakia	6.7	+1 pts
15	Bulgaria	6.1	+0.9 pts
15	Romania	6.1	+1.2 pts
17	Austria	6	+1.2 pts
18	Ireland	5.9	+0.9 pts
19	Belgium	5.8	+0.3 pts
20	Denmark	5.6	+0.6 pts
21	Slovenia	5	+0.6 pts
22	Malta	4.9	+0.8 pts
22	Netherlands	4.9	+0.5 pts
24	Hungary	4.1	+0.8 pts
25	Germany Series break	3.6	+0.7 pts
26	Poland	3.2	-0.1 pts
27	Czechia	2.6	+0.6 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

Unemployed people as a percentage of the labour force, using the survey definition of unemployment: without work, available and looking for work. Spain: EPA, aged 16 and over. EU: Labour Force Survey, aged 15 to 74. United States: civilian labour force aged 16 and over, from the Current Population Survey for the nation and from BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics models, consistent with that survey, for states and counties. Other countries and the World: ILO modelled estimates published by the World Bank, aged 15 and over.

Survey-based. Available for Spain, regions, provinces, EU countries, US states and US counties, not Spanish municipalities. For municipalities use registered_unemployment_rate. US national and state rates are seasonally adjusted; county rates are not. Countries without a national or Eurostat series get the annual ILO modelled estimate, a model output rather than a survey result.

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. Unemployment by sex and age, annual data (une_rt_a). https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/databrowser/view/une_rt_a/default/table. Retrieved 2026-10-08.

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Questions

Which EU country has the highest unemployment rate?

Greece, with 17.6% in 2020, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest unemployment rate?

Czechia, with 2.6% 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, Unemployment by sex and age, annual data (une_rt_a). Retrieved 2026-10-08.