Malta topped the EU employment rate for 2025 at an impressive 83.6%, almost 8% above the EU average. Malta also topped the rate for male employment at 89.1%, reflecting the large number of male immigrants in the workforce. The EU average was 80.9% so the difference is an even larger 8.2%
According to Eurostat, in 2025, 76.1% (197.7 million people) of the EU’s 20 to 64-year-olds were employed, the highest share recorded since the start of the time series in 2009. The employment rate was up 0.3 percentage points compared with 2024 and 0.8 pp compared with 2023.
Among EU countries, the highest employment rates were recorded in Malta (83.6%), the Netherlands (83.4%) and Czechia (82.9%). The lowest rates were recorded in Italy (67.6%), Romania (69.0%) and Greece (71.0%).
Malta’s large share of immigrant labour has undoubtedly pushed up the employment rate. Over 20% of the workforce is composed of foreign workers.
In 2025, in all EU countries, except for Lithuania, men had a higher employment rate than women.
The employment rate for men in the EU was 80.9%. Among EU countries, the highest rates were registered in Malta (89.1%), Czechia (88.2%) and the Netherlands (87.2%), while the lowest shares were observed in Belgium (76.4%), Croatia (76.8%) and Finland (77.0%).
For women in the EU, the employment rate stood at 71.3%, with the highest level found in Estonia (81.4%), Lithuania (80.3%) and Sweden (79.8%). Italy (58.0%), Romania (59.5%) and Greece (62.3%) recorded the lowest shares. Malta lies somewhat below the top countries but above the EU average at 75%.
Sports Editor
Veteran Journalist
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