EU countries by unemployment rate

Name: EU countries by unemployment rate, 2021
Creator: Eurostat, European Commission
License: Eurostat reuse policy (commercial and non-commercial reuse, attribution required)

Spain had the highest unemployment rate of 27 EU countries in 2021, at 14.9%. Czechia had the lowest, at 2.8%. The median was 6.2% and the figure for the European Union (27) was 7.1%. Source: Eurostat, European Commission.

Highest14.9Spain

Lowest2.8Czechia

Median6.227 EU countries

European Union (27)7.1History

All EU countries, 2021

CSV Chart (SVG)

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

Full ranking

Rank	EU countries	2021 (%)	Change on 2020
1	Spain	14.9	-0.6 pts
2	Greece	14.7	-2.9 pts
3	Italy	9.5	+0.2 pts
4	Sweden	8.9	+0.4 pts
5	France	7.9	-0.2 pts
6	Finland	7.7	0 pts
7	Latvia	7.6	-0.5 pts
8	Croatia	7.5	+0.1 pts
9	Cyprus	7.2	-0.4 pts
10	Lithuania	7.1	-1.4 pts
11	Slovakia	6.8	+0.1 pts
12	Portugal	6.7	-0.4 pts
13	Belgium	6.3	+0.5 pts
14	Austria	6.2	+0.2 pts
14	Estonia	6.2	-0.7 pts
14	Ireland Series break	6.2	+0.3 pts
17	Romania	5.6	-0.5 pts
18	Luxembourg	5.3	-1.5 pts
19	Bulgaria	5.2	-0.9 pts
20	Denmark	5.1	-0.5 pts
21	Slovenia	4.8	-0.2 pts
22	Netherlands	4.2	-0.7 pts
23	Hungary	4	-0.1 pts
24	Malta	3.8	-1.1 pts
25	Germany	3.6	0 pts
26	Poland	3.4	+0.2 pts
27	Czechia	2.8	+0.2 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.

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 unemployment rate using official data, and cite the source.

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

Spain, with 14.9% in 2021, according to Eurostat, European Commission.

Which EU country has the lowest unemployment rate?

Czechia, with 2.8% in 2021.

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.