Euro area unemployment at 6.1%

EU at 5.7%

Overview

In February 2025, the euro area seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate was 6.1%, down from 6.2% in January 2025 and from 6.5% in February 2024. The EU unemployment rate was 5.7% in February 2025, also down from 5.8% in January 2025 and from 6.1% in February 2024. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Eurostat estimates that 12.677 million persons in the EU, of whom 10.580 million in the euro area, were unemployed in February 2025.

Compared with January 2025, unemployment decreased by 131 thousand in the EU and by 70 thousand in the euro area.
Compared with February 2024, unemployment decreased by 643 thousand both in the EU and in the euro area.

Unemployment rates

Youth unemployment

In February 2025, 2.835 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.272 million were in the euro area. In February 2025, the youth unemployment rate was 14.5% in the EU, down from 14.6% in January 2025, and 14.2% in the euro area, up from 14.1% in the previous month.

Compared with January 2025, youth unemployment decreased by 16 thousand in the EU and increased by 13 thousand in the euro area.
Compared with February 2024, youth unemployment decreased by 63 thousand in the EU and by 85 thousand in the euro area.

Youth unemployment rates

Unemployment by sex

In February 2025, the unemployment rate for women was 6.0% in the EU, stable compared with the previous month, and the unemployment rate for men was 5.5%, down from 5.6% in January 2025. In the euro area, the unemployment rate for women was 6.4%, stable compared with the previous month, and the unemployment rate for men was 5.9%, down from 6.0% in January 2025.

Additional labour market indicators

The estimates in this News Release are based on the globally used International Labour Organisation (ILO) standard definition of unemployment, which counts as unemployed people without a job who have been actively seeking work in the last four weeks and are available to start work within the next two weeks.

To capture in full the labour market situation, the data on unemployment have been complemented by additional indicators, e.g. underemployed part-time workers, persons seeking work but not immediately available and persons available to work but not seeking, released together with LFS data for the fourth quarter of 2024.

LFS data for the first quarter of 2025 will be released on 13 June 2025.

Tables

Seasonally adjusted unemployment, totals
	Rates (%)					Number of persons (in thousands)
	2024			2025		2024			2025
	Feb	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Feb	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb
Euro area	6.5	6.2	6.2	6.2	6.1	11 223	10 631	10 680	10 650	10 580
EU	6.1	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.7	13 320	12 764	12 815	12 808	12 677
Belgium	5.7	5.9	6.0	5.8	5.9	305	319	324	318	322
Bulgaria	4.6	4.0	3.9	3.9	3.9	143	122	120	119	118
Czechia	2.6	2.8	2.7	2.4	2.7	137	147	139	129	145
Denmark	5.8	6.8	7.0	6.7	5.7	190	219	231	222	186
Germany	3.3	3.4	3.5	3.5	3.5	1 453	1 543	1 551	1 560	1 565
Estonia	7.5	7.6	7.8	7.7	7.7	56	57	58	58	57
Ireland	4.2	4.2	4.4	4.0	3.9	117	122	128	116	111
Greece	11.5	9.5	9.4	9.1	8.6	549	451	442	427	405
Spain	11.8	10.7	10.6	10.5	10.4	2 872	2 618	2 602	2 566	2 544
France	7.4	7.3	7.3	7.3	7.4	2 317	2 287	2 265	2 277	2 327
Croatia	5.4	4.6	4.6	4.6	4.6	95	82	81	80	80
Italy	7.3	6.0	6.3	6.2	5.9	1 859	1 525	1 607	1 596	1 517
Cyprus	5.2	4.7	4.9	5.0	4.9	26	24	25	26	25
Latvia	6.9	7.0	6.9	7.0	6.9	66	65	65	65	65
Lithuania	7.4	6.5	6.4	6.6	6.6	116	102	99	105	102
Luxembourg	6.0	6.5	6.4	6.4	6.5	20	22	22	22	23
Hungary	4.3	4.5	4.4	4.3	4.3	211	223	215	210	212
Malta	3.4	2.9	3.0	2.8	2.7	11	10	10	10	9
Netherlands	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.8	3.8	379	372	373	386	392
Austria	4.7	5.1	5.4	5.4	5.3	222	239	253	259	247
Poland	2.9	2.8	2.7	2.6	2.6	519	488	474	466	466
Portugal	6.5	6.6	6.4	6.3	6.4	350	360	350	349	354
Romania	5.2	5.6	5.7	5.5	5.6	436	455	463	451	457
Slovenia	3.4	3.6	3.4	3.3	3.2	36	38	35	34	34
Slovakia	5.6	5.2	5.1	5.1	5.0	154	142	142	141	140
Finland	7.9	8.7	8.7	8.8	8.8	226	246	248	249	251
Sweden	8.2	8.7	8.8	8.9	9.0	471	500	506	512	517
Iceland	3.5	3.4	3.5	3.6	:	8	8	8	8	:
Norway	3.9	4.0	4.0	3.9	3.9	117	121	120	119	118
Switzerland	4.0	4.5	4.5	:	:	205	232	232	:	:
United States	3.9	4.2	4.1	4.0	4.1	6 561	7 180	6 930	6 898	7 126
: Data not available Source datasets: une_rt_m (rates) and une_rt_m (in 1 000 persons)

Seasonally adjusted youth (under 25s) unemployment
	Rates (%)					Number of persons (in thousands)
	2024			2025		2024			2025
	Feb	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Feb	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb
Euro area	14.8	14.4	14.2	14.1	14.2	2 357	2 287	2 253	2 259	2 272
EU	14.9	14.8	14.6	14.6	14.5	2 898	2 879	2 832	2 851	2 835
Belgium	16.9	17.6	17.6	:	:	72	82	82	:	:
Bulgaria	15.4	9.7	9.6	10.2	10.7	20	11	11	12	12
Czechia	8.2	10.1	9.4	10.1	9.8	23	29	26	29	29
Denmark	14.2	17.5	16.2	16.0	12.2	71	85	81	78	59
Germany	6.4	6.5	6.4	6.4	6.3	292	304	300	295	292
Estonia	16.0	16.3	18.9	17.9	18.0	9	10	11	11	11
Ireland	10.0	11.4	12.5	11.8	11.3	36	41	45	42	40
Greece	28.9	21.1	22.5	21.8	16.8	78	51	53	52	43
Spain	27.5	25.3	25.3	25.3	25.5	482	453	455	461	469
France	18.2	18.9	18.5	18.6	19.2	617	622	607	611	639
Croatia	17.1	16.2	16.2	:	:	21	19	19	:	:
Italy	23.0	20.0	18.5	18.3	16.9	340	280	262	261	242
Cyprus	15.8	9.8	9.8	:	:	5	3	3	:	:
Latvia	10.7	13.8	13.4	12.9	12.5	7	9	8	8	8
Lithuania	12.1	12.6	11.8	14.1	13.7	12	13	11	14	14
Luxembourg	22.6	22.1	21.5	21.6	21.8	6	6	6	6	6
Hungary	15.6	15.9	14.4	13.8	14.2	48	49	44	42	43
Malta	8.7	9.5	9.8	9.3	9.0	3	3	3	3	3
Netherlands	8.7	8.7	8.7	8.9	8.8	158	158	158	162	160
Austria	9.0	11.2	10.4	10.9	11.7	46	58	54	58	59
Poland	11.4	10.2	10.2	10.4	10.5	127	118	117	119	120
Portugal	22.5	21.0	20.5	20.3	20.9	85	81	80	79	81
Romania	19.7	26.3	26.3	:	:	103	135	135	:	:
Slovenia	10.1	9.3	9.3	:	:	8	7	7	:	:
Slovakia	20.8	17.3	17.1	16.6	16.4	30	24	24	23	23
Finland	18.1	19.4	19.6	19.8	20.0	58	64	64	65	66
Sweden	23.8	24.7	24.8	25.0	25.1	162	168	170	171	173
Iceland	8.4	8.7	8.7	8.7	:	3	3	3	3	:
Norway	10.8	10.1	12.6	11.3	11.8	46	44	56	50	54
Switzerland	8.0	9.0	8.8	:	:	46	53	53	:	:
: Data not available Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Romania and Slovenia: quarterly data Source datasets: une_rt_m (rates) and une_rt_m (in 1 000 persons)

Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates (%), by sex
	Males					Females
	2024			2025		2024			2025
	Feb	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb	Feb	Nov	Dec	Jan	Feb
Euro area	6.3	6.0	6.0	6.0	5.9	6.9	6.4	6.4	6.4	6.4
EU	5.8	5.6	5.6	5.6	5.5	6.3	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0
Belgium	6.3	6.3	6.3	6.2	6.3	5.0	5.5	5.5	5.4	5.5
Bulgaria	4.7	4.6	4.5	4.5	4.3	4.6	3.4	3.3	3.3	3.3
Czechia	2.3	2.1	2.2	2.2	2.2	3.1	3.7	3.3	2.7	3.4
Denmark	5.8	6.6	6.9	6.6	4.9	5.8	6.9	7.1	6.9	6.6
Germany	3.5	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.7	3.0	3.2	3.2	3.2	3.2
Estonia	7.4	7.9	8.5	7.8	7.7	7.6	7.2	7.1	7.6	7.6
Ireland	4.0	4.5	4.8	4.0	3.8	4.3	4.0	4.0	4.0	3.9
Greece	9.5	7.2	7.3	7.2	6.4	13.9	12.4	11.9	11.5	11.3
Spain	10.6	9.6	9.5	9.3	9.2	13.2	12.0	11.9	11.7	11.6
France	7.6	7.5	7.5	7.5	7.7	7.3	7.1	7.1	7.0	7.1
Croatia	5.1	4.8	4.8	4.8	4.7	5.8	4.4	4.4	4.3	4.3
Italy	6.5	5.5	5.6	5.5	5.2	8.4	6.6	7.1	7.1	6.8
Cyprus	5.1	4.4	4.5	4.5	4.5	5.2	5.1	5.3	5.5	5.4
Latvia	7.6	8.4	8.4	8.6	8.6	6.2	5.6	5.5	5.3	5.3
Lithuania	7.6	7.2	7.0	7.6	7.7	7.2	5.7	5.7	5.6	5.4
Luxembourg	6.0	6.6	6.5	6.6	6.7	5.9	6.3	6.3	6.3	6.3
Hungary	4.3	4.5	4.4	4.3	4.3	4.2	4.6	4.4	4.2	4.3
Malta	3.6	2.9	2.9	2.9	2.8	3.1	3.0	3.2	2.8	2.5
Netherlands	3.6	3.4	3.5	3.6	3.7	3.9	3.9	3.9	4.0	4.0
Austria	5.1	5.8	5.7	5.6	5.5	4.3	4.2	5.0	5.2	5.0
Poland	2.7	2.5	2.5	2.4	2.4	3.1	3.0	2.9	2.8	2.8
Portugal	5.9	6.4	6.2	6.1	6.2	7.1	6.8	6.5	6.6	6.7
Romania	5.4	5.7	5.9	5.8	5.7	5.0	5.4	5.3	5.1	5.3
Slovenia	3.1	3.1	2.8	2.7	2.7	3.8	4.3	4.2	4.0	3.9
Slovakia	5.1	4.6	4.5	4.5	4.5	6.1	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.7
Finland	8.7	9.3	9.4	9.4	9.4	7.1	8.0	8.1	8.1	8.2
Sweden	8.2	8.5	8.6	8.7	8.8	8.3	9.0	9.1	9.2	9.2
Iceland	3.9	3.7	3.8	3.9	:	3.1	3.1	3.2	3.2	:
Norway	3.7	3.9	4.3	3.9	4.0	3.3	3.5	4.0	3.6	3.7
Switzerland	3.9	4.3	4.3	:	:	4.2	4.8	4.8	:	:
: Data not available Source dataset: une_rt_m

Notes for users

Revisions and timetable

The data in this News Release can be subject to revisions, caused by updates to the seasonally adjusted series whenever new monthly data are added; the inclusion of the most recent LFS data in the calculation process; update of seasonal adjustment models with complete annual data.

Compared with the rates published in News Release of 4 March 2025, the January 2025 unemployment rate for the euro area and the unemployment rate for the EU remained unchanged. Among EU Member States, the rate has been revised by more than 0.1 percentage points (pp) downwards for Czechia and Malta (by 0.2 pp each). The rate has been revised by more than 0.1 percentage points (pp) upwards for Greece (by 0.4 pp).

Country notes

Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden as well as Iceland and Norway: the trend component is used instead of the more volatile seasonally adjusted data.

Estonia and Portugal: 3-month moving averages of LFS data are used instead of pure monthly indicators.

France: Estimates are calculated using inputs from the French public employment service. An updated national methodology (in French) is in use since January 2025, affecting the time series consistency of the input data. To ensure the comparability of monthly unemployment figures published in this article, Eurostat compiled the evolution between December 2024 and January 2025 youth unemployment figures using statistical models.

Methods and definitions

Eurostat publishes harmonised unemployment rates for individual EU Member States, the euro area and the EU. These unemployment rates are based on the definition recommended by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The measurement is based on a harmonised data source, the European Union Labour Force Survey (LFS).

Based on the ILO definition, Eurostat defines unemployed persons as persons aged 15 to 74 who:

are without work;
are available to start work within the next two weeks;
and have actively sought employment at some time during the previous four weeks.

The unemployment rate is the number of people unemployed as a percentage of the labour force.

The labour force is the total number of people employed plus unemployed. In this news release unemployment rates are based on employment and unemployment data covering persons aged 15 to 74.

The youth unemployment rate is the number of people aged 15 to 24 unemployed as a percentage of the labour force of the same age. Therefore, the youth unemployment rate should not be interpreted as the share of jobless people in the overall youth population.

When data for the most recent month are not available for a Member State, EU and EA aggregates are calculated using the latest data available for that Member State.

Geographical information

Euro area (EA20): Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.

European Union (EU27): Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden.