EU employment reached record levels in 2025

According to Eurostat data released in April 2026, the employment rate for people aged 20 to 64 in the European Union reached 76.1% in 2025, the highest level since record-keeping began in 2009. This figure represents approximately 197.7 million employed individuals, marking an increase of 0.3 percentage points compared to 2024 and 0.8 points compared to 2023. Cyprus reported a strong performance with an 81.3% employment rate, surpassing the EU average, compared to 79.8% in 2024. The highest employment rates were recorded in Malta at 83.6%, the Netherlands at 83.4%, and the Czech Republic at 82.9%. Conversely, the lowest rates were observed in Italy at 67.6%, Romania at 69.0%, and Greece at 71.0%. A gender employment gap persists across the EU, with an average of 80.9% for men and 71.3% for women, resulting in a 9.6 percentage point disparity. Italy, Romania, and Greece recorded the largest gender-based employment inequalities, while countries like Estonia and Lithuania reported the smallest differences.