Last year, 76.1% (197.7 million people) of working-age people (20-64 years) in the European Union were employed, the highest proportion recorded since data collection began in 2009. The EU employment rate increased by 0.3 percentage points compared to 2024 and by 0.8 percentage points compared to 2023.

Among EU member states, the highest employment rates were recorded in Malta (83.6%), the Netherlands (83.4%) and Czechia (82.9%). The lowest rates were recorded in Italy (67.6%), Romania (69%) and Greece (71%).

In 2025, in all EU countries except Lithuania, the employment rate was higher among men than among women. The employment rate among EU men was 80.9%, with Malta (89.1%), Czechia (88.2%) and the Netherlands (87.2%) recording the highest rates. For EU women, the employment rate was 71.3%, with Estonia (81.4%), Lithuania (80.3%) and Sweden (79.8%) showing the highest levels. Italy (58.0%), Romania (59.5%) and Greece (62.3%) recorded the lowest female employment rates.

The gender gap in employment rates was 9.6 percentage points in the EU. The largest differences were recorded in Italy (19.1 percentage points), Romania (18.7 percentage points) and Greece (17.4 percentage points).