EU: unemployment at ages 15–24 is almost three times the adult rate
September 2026: 15.5% against 5.3% at ages 25–74. In all 30 European countries with data the young rate is at least double.
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Average unemployment lumps everyone together and looks calm. Split by age, the young rate is 2.9 times the adult rate, and it is so in every European country.
Two bars: EU unemployment at ages 15–24 and at ages 25–74, % of each age group's labour force.
- EU: unemployment at 15–24 and 25–74 %
15.5; 5.3
Eurostat une_rt_m: monthly seasonally adjusted unemployment, September 2026, EU-27. European countries with both groups: 30.
Unemployment is a share of those working or looking for work, not of everyone that age: students not looking for work are outside it. A student looking for a side job counts as unemployed. Highest youth rate: North Macedonia, 29.2%; smallest gap: Germany and Turkey, 2.0 times. How the gap changed since 2019 is in the card "EU adult unemployment is below its pre-pandemic level".
A question for this picture
And by country? In Finland a quarter of young people working or looking for work have no job.