Euro area unemployment at 6.3% (1.6.2026)

EU at 6.0%

Overview

In April 2026, the euro area seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.3%, stable compared with March 2026 as well as with April 2025. The EU unemployment rate was 6.0% in April 2026, also stable compared with March 2026 and with April 2025. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Eurostat estimates that 13.238 million persons in the EU, of whom 11.075 million in the euro area, were unemployed in April 2026.

Compared with March 2026, unemployment decreased by 137 thousand in the EU and by 84 thousand in the euro area.
Compared with April 2025, unemployment increased by 82 thousand in the EU and by 45 thousand in the euro area.

Unemployment rates

Youth unemployment

In April 2026, 2.913 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.337 million were in the euro area. In April 2026, the youth unemployment rate was 15.1% in the EU, down from 15.6% in the previous month, and 14.7% in the euro area, also down from 15.1% in March 2026.

Compared with March 2026, youth unemployment decreased by 91 thousand in the EU and by 50 thousand in the euro area.
Compared with April 2025, youth unemployment increased by 22 thousand in the EU and by 13 thousand in the euro area.

Youth unemployment rates

Unemployment by sex

In April 2026, the unemployment rate for women was 6.2% in the EU, down from 6.3% in March 2026, 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 6.5%, down from 6.6% in March 2026, and the unemployment rate for men was 6.0% in April 2026, also down from 6.1% in March 2026.

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 fourth quarter of 2025.

EU-LFS data for the first quarter of 2026 will be released on 12 June 2026.

Tables

Seasonally adjusted unemployment, totals
	Rates (%)					Number of persons (in thousands)
	Apr-25	Jan-26	Feb-26	Mar-26	Apr-26	Apr-25	Jan-26	Feb-26	Mar-26	Apr-26
Euro area	6.3	6.3	6.4	6.3	6.3	11 030	11 055	11 221	11 159	11 075
EU	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	6.0	13 156	13 203	13 384	13 375	13 238
Belgium	6.1	6.3	6.3	6.2	6.2	334	348	345	343	343
Bulgaria	3.4	3.0	2.9	2.9	2.8	103	90	89	87	86
Czechia	2.8	3.2	3.1	3.2	3.1	146	172	169	175	168
Denmark	6.8	7.1	7.3	6.6	7.0	226	236	238	220	231
Germany	3.7	3.9	3.9	3.8	3.8	1 623	1 708	1 696	1 683	1 669
Estonia	7.9	6.3	7.0	6.3	6.3	60	46	52	47	47
Ireland	4.6	5.0	5.0	5.0	4.8	134	146	148	146	140
Greece	9.0	9.0	9.8	10.4	9.5	426	429	474	502	452
Spain	10.6	10.3	10.3	10.3	10.3	2 625	2 566	2 586	2 595	2 588
France	7.5	8.1	8.2	8.2	8.2	2 396	2 587	2 615	2 615	2 632
Croatia	4.9	4.6	4.5	4.3	4.2	87	82	80	77	75
Italy	6.1	5.2	5.4	5.2	5.1	1 570	1 332	1 368	1 328	1 310
Cyprus	4.6	3.9	3.5	3.3	3.2	24	21	19	17	17
Latvia	6.6	6.8	6.7	6.6	6.5	63	65	63	62	62
Lithuania	6.9	7.1	7.1	7.0	7.1	108	112	113	112	113
Luxembourg	6.5	7.0	6.9	7.0	7.0	23	24	24	25	25
Hungary	4.3	4.5	4.6	4.4	4.6	212	220	223	214	223
Malta	3.0	3.5	3.6	3.5	3.6	10	12	12	12	12
Netherlands*	3.8	4.0	4.1	4.0	3.9*	387	415	416	407	397*
Austria	5.6	5.6	5.9	5.7	5.7	266	270	283	273	274
Poland	3.1	3.0	3.0	3.0	3.0	543	535	531	536	542
Portugal	6.2	5.6	5.8	5.8	5.7	347	315	327	325	322
Romania	6.1	6.3	6.3	6.5	6.3	502	520	516	534	512
Slovenia	3.5	4.1	4.1	4.1	4.1	36	42	42	42	43
Slovakia	5.4	5.7	5.8	5.8	5.8	148	158	160	161	161
Finland	9.3	10.3	10.4	10.5	10.6	266	297	300	302	305
Sweden	8.8	8.7	8.7	8.7	8.6	504	505	503	502	500
Iceland	4.0	5.6	5.7	5.8	5.8	9	13	13	14	14
Norway	4.4	4.6	4.7	4.8	4.8	133	142	144	146	148
Switzerland	4.8	5.0	4.9	5.0	:	245	255	251	256	:
United States	4.2	4.3	4.4	4.3	4.3	7 173	7 379	7 640	7 186	7 365
*NL April 2026 data are provisional : 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)
	Apr-25	Jan-26	Feb-26	Mar-26	Apr-26	Apr-25	Jan-26	Feb-26	Mar-26	Apr-26
Euro area	14.5	15.1	15.1	15.1	14.7	2 324	2 388	2 403	2 387	2 337
EU	14.9	15.4	15.5	15.6	15.1	2 891	2 963	2 991	3 004	2 913
Belgium	15.5	18.7	18.7	18.7	:	74	88	88	88	:
Bulgaria	13.0	11.5	11.5	11.1	11.0	15	14	14	14	14
Czechia	11.2	10.1	10.9	9.9	9.9	33	32	34	32	31
Denmark	14.5	14.5	15.9	15.6	12.9	75	75	80	78	65
Germany	6.8	7.4	7.3	7.3	7.2	309	325	323	320	316
Estonia	20.1	17.6	21.4	20.2	20.3	12	10	12	12	12
Ireland	11.6	12.0	12.1	11.2	9.8	43	44	43	39	34
Greece	19.1	21.2	22.1	25.3	18.4	49	54	58	70	48
Spain	24.9	24.0	24.3	24.2	23.7	451	445	455	457	447
France	19.0	21.2	21.2	21.2	21.4	653	729	726	731	737
Croatia	18.1	17.0	17.0	17.0	:	21	19	19	19	:
Italy	20.3	18.0	17.1	17.7	16.9	271	223	212	214	208
Cyprus	15.1	12.7	12.7	12.7	:	5	4	4	4	:
Latvia	16.8	10.7	8.6	7.6	8.2	12	7	6	5	6
Lithuania	14.4	15.2	15.3	15.7	14.4	14	16	16	17	16
Luxembourg	18.1	20.5	20.5	20.2	20.3	5	5	5	5	5
Hungary	13.8	14.0	13.2	12.6	12.8	41	40	39	36	36
Malta	8.2	9.8	9.9	9.6	9.1	2	3	3	3	3
Netherlands*	8.8	9.3	9.2	8.9	8.7*	159	168	168	160	157*
Austria	10.1	10.4	11.8	11.3	9.5	53	56	63	59	50
Poland	12.5	11.6	11.9	12.1	12.4	136	130	134	136	138
Portugal	19.6	18.2	18.5	19.0	17.9	75	68	70	71	67
Romania	24.6	28.8	28.8	28.8	:	128	142	142	142	:
Slovenia	11.2	14.2	14.2	14.2	:	8	13	13	13	:
Slovakia	15.1	16.4	17.1	17.5	17.5	22	21	22	23	22
Finland	20.9	22.4	22.4	22.3	22.2	69	76	75	75	75
Sweden	23.9	24.3	24.3	24.3	24.4	164	172	172	172	173
Iceland	9.1	12.3	12.6	12.8	12.9	3	5	5	5	5
Norway	13.5	13.8	14.5	14.9	11.2	61	61	68	68	50
Switzerland	8.9	8.1	8.3	8.5	:	54	47	49	50	:
*NL April 2026 data are provisional : 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
	Apr-25	Jan-26	Feb-26	Mar-26	Apr-26	Apr-25	Jan-26	Feb-26	Mar-26	Apr-26
Euro area	6.1	6.1	6.2	6.1	6.0	6.5	6.5	6.6	6.6	6.5
EU	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	5.8	6.1	6.2	6.3	6.3	6.2
Belgium	6.8	6.4	6.3	6.3	6.3	5.2	6.3	6.2	6.1	6.1
Bulgaria	3.5	3.2	3.1	3.1	3.0	3.3	2.8	2.7	2.6	2.6
Czechia	2.5	2.7	2.8	2.7	2.7	3.1	3.7	3.6	3.8	3.6
Denmark	7.0	6.2	6.5	6.8	7.0	6.6	8.1	8.1	6.5	7.0
Germany	4.0	4.2	4.2	4.1	4.1	3.3	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5
Estonia	8.4	6.8	6.8	6.6	6.6	7.4	5.8	7.2	6.0	6.0
Ireland	4.7	4.9	4.8	4.7	4.5	4.4	5.1	5.3	5.3	5.2
Greece	7.3	6.3	7.1	7.8	5.9	11.0	12.2	13.1	13.5	13.7
Spain	9.5	9.0	9.0	9.0	9.0	11.9	11.7	11.8	11.8	11.8
France	7.6	8.4	8.5	8.6	8.6	7.4	7.7	7.8	7.8	7.8
Croatia	5.3	5.1	5.0	4.8	4.6	4.4	4.0	3.9	3.8	3.7
Italy	5.6	4.9	5.0	4.7	4.7	6.9	5.7	5.9	5.8	5.7
Cyprus	4.2	3.7	3.4	3.2	3.0	4.9	4.0	3.6	3.4	3.4
Latvia	6.9	7.2	6.9	6.7	6.7	6.3	6.5	6.5	6.5	6.3
Lithuania	7.9	8.1	8.1	7.9	8.0	5.9	6.0	6.1	6.1	6.2
Luxembourg	6.3	6.6	6.6	6.7	6.7	6.6	7.4	7.3	7.3	7.3
Hungary	4.4	4.6	4.6	4.5	4.4	4.2	4.4	4.6	4.3	4.8
Malta	3.2	3.7	3.7	3.6	3.6	2.7	3.4	3.4	3.4	3.5
Netherlands*	3.6	4.0	3.9	3.8	3.8*	4.0	4.1	4.2	4.1	4.0*
Austria	5.5	5.8	5.9	5.7	6.1	5.6	5.5	6.0	5.7	5.4
Poland	2.9	2.9	2.8	2.8	2.9	3.3	3.2	3.2	3.2	3.2
Portugal	5.6	5.0	5.2	5.3	5.3	6.9	6.2	6.4	6.2	6.1
Romania	6.2	6.2	6.3	6.2	6.2	6.1	6.5	6.3	6.9	6.3
Slovenia	3.5	3.9	4.0	4.0	3.9	3.5	4.3	4.1	4.2	4.3
Slovakia	5.0	5.5	5.5	5.6	5.5	5.8	6.1	6.1	6.1	6.2
Finland	9.9	11.0	11.0	11.1	11.3	8.6	9.6	9.7	9.8	9.8
Sweden	8.6	8.9	8.9	8.9	8.9	8.9	8.5	8.5	8.4	8.4
Iceland	4.1	5.4	5.5	5.6	5.6	3.8	5.7	5.9	6.0	6.0
Norway	4.6	5.1	5.4	5.4	5.1	4.1	4.1	4.3	4.4	4.1
Switzerland	4.7	5.0	4.9	5.0	:	4.8	4.9	4.9	5.0	:
*NL April 2026 data are provisional : 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 April 2026, the March 2026 unemployment rate for the euro area has been revised from 6.2% to 6.3%, 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 1.0 pp), Estonia (by 0.6 pp), Bulgaria, Denmark and Poland (by 0.3 pp each) as well as for Germany (by 0.2 pp). The rate has been revised by more than 0.1 percentage points (pp) upwards for Greece (by 1.4 pp), France and Lithuania (by 0.5 pp each), Romania (by 0.4 pp), Ireland (by 0.3 pp) as well as for Croatia, Latvia, Slovenia and Slovakia (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.

The Netherlands: April 2026 figures are provisional. The data collection process in Statistics Netherlands was exceptionally disrupted during a few days of the data reference period.

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 (EA21): Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.

European Union (EU 27): 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.