Euro area unemployment at 6.4%

EU at 6.0%

Overview

In October 2025, the euro area seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.4%, stable compared with September 2025 and up from 6.3% in October 2024. The EU unemployment rate was 6.0% in October 2025, also stable compared with September 2025 and up from 5.8% in October 2024. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Eurostat estimates that 13.351 million persons in the EU, of whom 11.033 million in the euro area, were unemployed in October 2025.

Compared with September 2025, unemployment increased by 32 thousand in the EU and decreased by 13 thousand in the euro area.
Compared with October 2024, unemployment increased by 517 thousand in the EU and by 308 thousand in the euro area.

Unemployment rates

Youth unemployment

In October 2025, 2.960 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.352 million were in the euro area. In October 2025, the youth unemployment rate was 15.2% in the EU and 14.8% in the euro area, both stable compared with September 2025.

Compared with September 2025, youth unemployment increased by 11 thousand in the EU and by 10 thousand in the euro area.
Compared with October 2024, youth unemployment increased by 74 thousand in the EU and by 39 thousand in the euro area.

Youth unemployment rates

Unemployment by sex

In October 2025, the unemployment rate for women was 6.3% in the EU, up from 6.2% in September 2025, and the unemployment rate for men was 5.8%, stable compared with the previous month. In the euro area, the unemployment rate for women was 6.6%, stable compared with September 2025, and the unemployment rate for men was 6.1%, down from 6.2% in the previous month.

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 EU Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) data for the second quarter of 2025.

EU-LFS data for the third quarter of 2025 will be released on 12 December 2025.

Tables

Seasonally adjusted unemployment, totals
	Rates (%)					Number of persons (in thousands)
	Oct-24	Jul-25	Aug-25	Sep-25	Oct-25	Oct-24	Jul-25	Aug-25	Sep-25	Oct-25
Euro area	6.3	6.4	6.4	6.4	6.4	10 725	11 004	11 010	11 046	11 033
EU	5.8	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	12 834	13 264	13 296	13 319	13 351
Belgium	5.8	6.0	6.1	6.3	6.4	312	331	330	341	349
Bulgaria	4.1	3.8	3.8	3.7	3.6	123	115	115	112	109
Czechia	2.6	2.8	3.1	3.0	3.2	137	152	167	160	171
Denmark	5.9	6.5	6.4	6.2	6.4	192	214	209	203	210
Germany	3.4	3.7	3.7	3.8	3.8	1 520	1 649	1 651	1 653	1 658
Estonia	7.5	8.0	7.5	7.3	7.3	56	61	56	55	55
Ireland	4.2	5.0	5.0	5.1	5.0	121	147	145	149	147
Greece	9.7	8.9	8.6	8.7	8.6	462	421	412	410	411
Spain	10.8	10.5	10.5	10.5	10.5	2 649	2 622	2 613	2 607	2 599
France	7.3	7.7	7.7	7.7	7.7	2 294	2 438	2 440	2 447	2 455
Croatia	4.9	4.7	4.7	4.7	4.6	87	83	84	84	82
Italy	6.1	6.1	6.0	6.2	6.0	1 562	1 564	1 545	1 587	1 528
Cyprus	4.7	4.4	4.3	4.2	4.2	24	23	23	22	22
Latvia	7.0	7.0	7.1	7.2	7.1	65	66	68	68	68
Lithuania	6.9	6.7	6.8	6.5	6.5	107	106	106	103	103
Luxembourg	6.6	6.4	6.4	6.7	6.6	23	23	23	24	23
Hungary	4.5	4.3	4.3	4.5	4.5	222	212	211	219	221
Malta	3.0	2.9	2.9	3.0	3.1	10	10	10	10	11
Netherlands	3.7	3.8	3.9	4.0	4.0	376	388	401	409	411
Austria	5.6	5.6	6.0	5.6	5.8	263	267	285	266	276
Poland	2.8	3.2	3.2	3.2	3.2	502	564	572	574	578
Portugal	6.6	5.9	6.0	6.0	5.9	359	333	337	336	329
Romania	5.7	6.0	6.1	6.1	5.9	464	491	503	497	487
Slovenia	3.8	3.7	4.0	4.3	4.7	39	39	41	45	50
Slovakia	5.2	5.4	5.5	5.6	5.6	144	149	151	153	154
Finland	8.7	9.7	9.8	9.8	9.8	247	279	281	283	284
Sweden	8.6	8.8	8.9	8.9	9.0	491	508	511	514	518
Iceland	3.4	3.9	4.0	4.0	4.0	8	9	10	10	10
Norway	4.0	4.6	4.6	4.6	4.7	122	141	142	142	142
Switzerland	4.5	4.9	4.9	5.0	:	231	250	251	259	:
United States	4.1	4.2	4.3	4.4	:	7 000	7 214	7 388	7 561	:
: 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)
	Oct-24	Jul-25	Aug-25	Sep-25	Oct-25	Oct-24	Jul-25	Aug-25	Sep-25	Oct-25
Euro area	14.6	14.5	14.6	14.8	14.8	2 313	2 293	2 304	2 342	2 352
EU	14.9	14.9	15.1	15.2	15.2	2 886	2 885	2 923	2 949	2 960
Belgium	17.5	18.0	18.0	18.0	:	81	85	85	85	:
Bulgaria	10.5	15.6	14.8	13.9	13.3	12	18	17	15	15
Czechia	10.8	10.8	10.2	10.2	10.6	31	35	32	32	33
Denmark	14.6	12.3	15.2	14.1	13.2	70	62	77	73	71
Germany	6.8	6.7	6.7	6.6	6.6	311	304	302	300	298
Estonia	16.8	25.3	21.3	19.5	19.4	10	18	14	12	12
Ireland	10.9	12.5	12.7	13.3	13.4	39	45	46	50	48
Greece	21.5	21.2	19.9	21.1	18.8	56	53	57	51	48
Spain	25.3	24.9	25.0	25.1	25.3	457	461	463	470	479
France	19.3	18.6	18.7	19.0	18.9	643	630	630	643	640
Croatia	17.1	17.8	17.8	17.8	:	21	20	20	20	:
Italy	19.0	19.9	20.5	21.6	19.8	266	263	258	280	253
Cyprus	10.0	12.6	12.6	12.6	:	3	4	4	4	:
Latvia	13.8	13.5	12.3	11.7	12.1	9	9	9	8	9
Lithuania	15.3	12.9	12.6	12.3	12.9	15	14	14	13	14
Luxembourg	20.9	17.9	17.5	18.5	17.6	6	5	4	5	4
Hungary	16.5	13.7	15.0	14.4	14.1	52	41	45	42	41
Malta	9.5	9.2	9.0	10.1	10.1	3	2	2	3	3
Netherlands	8.9	8.4	8.6	8.8	9.0	161	151	156	159	161
Austria	10.9	10.1	12.4	11.6	12.1	57	51	62	61	64
Poland	10.6	12.5	12.3	12.3	12.6	122	140	140	141	145
Portugal	21.4	19.5	18.9	18.6	18.3	82	76	72	71	68
Romania	26.3	26.9	26.9	26.9	:	135	134	134	134	:
Slovenia	9.4	13.8	13.8	13.8	:	7	11	11	11	:
Slovakia	17.6	15.5	15.5	16.0	16.2	25	21	20	21	21
Finland	19.4	22.2	22.2	22.1	22.0	63	72	73	74	75
Sweden	24.2	24.0	24.1	24.2	24.2	164	167	168	169	170
Iceland	8.7	8.2	8.3	8.3	8.3	3	3	3	3	3
Norway	13.2	13.7	18.3	14.4	14.4	58	61	84	63	65
Switzerland	8.9	8.2	8.1	9.0	:	53	49	48	53	:
: Data not available Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Romania and Slovenia: quarterly dataSource datasets: une_rt_m (rates) and une_rt_m (in 1 000 persons)

Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates (%), by sex
	Males					Females
	Oct-24	Jul-25	Aug-25	Sep-25	Oct-25	Oct-24	Jul-25	Aug-25	Sep-25	Oct-25
Euro area	6.1	6.2	6.2	6.2	6.1	6.5	6.6	6.6	6.6	6.6
EU	5.7	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	6.1	6.2	6.2	6.2	6.3
Belgium	6.1	6.6	6.5	6.7	6.7	5.4	5.4	5.5	5.8	6.0
Bulgaria	4.5	4.0	4.0	3.9	3.7	3.5	3.6	3.6	3.5	3.5
Czechia	2.4	2.5	2.8	2.7	2.9	2.9	3.2	3.6	3.4	3.5
Denmark	5.1	7.0	6.3	6.1	6.6	6.6	6.1	6.4	6.2	6.2
Germany	3.6	4.1	4.1	4.1	4.1	3.2	3.3	3.3	3.3	3.3
Estonia	8.0	8.9	8.7	8.8	8.7	7.1	7.2	6.2	5.9	5.9
Ireland	4.4	5.0	5.0	5.1	5.0	4.0	5.0	4.9	5.0	5.0
Greece	7.9	7.1	6.8	6.6	6.7	11.9	11.0	10.9	11.2	11.0
Spain	9.7	9.2	9.1	9.0	8.9	12.1	12.0	12.1	12.1	12.1
France	7.6	7.7	7.7	7.7	7.7	7.1	7.6	7.7	7.7	7.7
Croatia	5.2	5.1	5.2	5.1	5.1	4.7	4.2	4.1	4.2	4.1
Italy	5.6	5.5	5.6	5.8	5.6	6.9	6.9	6.7	6.7	6.4
Cyprus	4.5	4.0	4.0	4.1	4.1	4.9	4.9	4.7	4.4	4.3
Latvia	8.4	7.8	8.3	8.4	8.3	5.6	6.2	6.0	5.9	5.9
Lithuania	7.6	7.6	7.6	7.4	7.5	6.1	5.8	5.9	5.6	5.5
Luxembourg	6.6	6.3	6.4	6.5	6.4	6.6	6.6	6.5	6.8	6.7
Hungary	4.5	4.4	4.3	4.6	4.6	4.5	4.2	4.4	4.3	4.4
Malta	3.0	3.0	3.1	3.1	3.2	3.1	2.7	2.6	2.8	3.1
Netherlands	3.5	3.7	3.8	3.8	3.9	3.9	3.9	4.0	4.2	4.1
Austria	5.5	5.8	6.6	6.0	6.4	5.7	5.5	5.4	5.1	5.1
Poland	2.6	2.8	2.9	2.8	2.9	3.1	3.6	3.6	3.6	3.6
Portugal	6.2	5.6	5.7	5.4	5.2	6.9	6.3	6.3	6.5	6.6
Romania	5.9	6.2	6.4	6.3	6.0	5.4	5.6	5.8	5.8	5.8
Slovenia	3.4	3.5	3.6	4.0	4.4	4.2	4.0	4.3	4.8	5.1
Slovakia	4.7	5.1	5.1	5.2	5.2	5.8	5.8	5.9	6.0	6.1
Finland	9.4	10.5	10.5	10.5	10.4	8.0	8.9	9.1	9.1	9.2
Sweden	8.3	8.8	8.9	8.9	9.0	8.8	8.8	8.8	8.9	8.9
Iceland	3.5	4.0	4.0	4.0	3.9	3.3	3.8	3.9	4.0	4.2
Norway	4.3	4.7	5.2	5.1	4.8	3.9	4.2	4.6	4.5	4.2
Switzerland	4.3	5.0	5.0	5.1	:	4.8	4.8	4.8	5.0	:
: 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 EU-LFS data in the calculation process; update of seasonal adjustment models with complete annual data.

Compared with the rates published in the News Release of 30 October 2025, the September 2025 unemployment rate for the euro area has been revised from 6.3% to 6.4%, while 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 Cyprus (by 0.7 pp), Lithuania (by 0.5 pp) and Luxembourg (by 0.2 pp). The rate has been revised by more than 0.1 percentage points (pp) upwards for Slovenia (by 1.2 pp), Latvia (by 0.8 pp), Greece (by 0.5 pp), Belgium and Ireland (by 0.4 pp each) as well as for Bulgaria, Romania and Sweden (by 0.2 pp each).

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 EU-LFS data are used instead of pure monthly indicators.

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 (EU-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.