The unemployment rate in EU countries

The average unemployment rate in the European Union (EU) was 7.1% in April 2018, which is 7 tenths less than in the same month of the previous year, according to the latest comparative figures provided by Eurostat.

In the eurozone (19 countries), the average unemployment rate was somewhat higher than that of the EU as a whole: 8.5% compared to 9.2% in April 2017.

In both cases they are the best figures that have been achieved since 2008.

By countries, the one with the lowest percentage of unemployed in April this year was the Czech Republic, with only a 2.2% unemployment rate. Malta had 3% unemployment and Germany 3.4%.

On the other hand, the countries with the highest rate of unemployment were Greece (20.8% in February of this year) and Spain (15.9% in April).

Youth unemployment rate

Eurostat has also presented figures on youth unemployment in the different EU countries. The average number of people under 25 without work in the EU as a whole was 15.3% in April this year and 17.2% in the eurozone.

By country, the worst data in this ranking corresponded to Greece (45.4% in February of this year), Spain (34.4% in April) and Italy (33.1%).

The lowest youth unemployment rate corresponded to Germany (6%), followed by Malta (6.8%) and the Netherlands (6.9%).