Spain once again tops the list of European countries when it comes to unemployment. In April, Spain’s unemployment rate stood at 13.3%. A percentage that is in stark contrast to the European average, which has never been this low before.
Eurostat, the European statistical office, published April unemployment figures for all EU countries at the beginning of June. Earlier this year, Spain was also at the top of all countries in Europe; in March 2022, Spain recorded an unemployment rate of 13.5%.
What about unemployment in other European countries?
In the European Union, Spain leads the way when it comes to the highest unemployment rate. Greece is in second place with an unemployment rate of 12.7%, followed by Italy at 8.4%. The lowest unemployment rates were recorded in the Czech Republic (2.4%), Germany and Poland (both 3%). The Netherlands is also one of the countries with a low unemployment rate (3.2%). This while unemployment in Belgium was slightly higher at 5.7%.
Spain stark contrast to European average
It remains remarkable that the unemployment rate in Spain continues to hit such records while the average unemployment rate within the eurozone and the European Union is bottoming out at 6.8% and 6.2% respectively. Eurostat has been keeping these figures since 1998 and the average European unemployment figures have not been so low since then.
Unemployment by gender and age
The unemployment rate in the EU is on average almost 1 percentage point higher for women (6.5%) compared to men (5.8%). In April, the number of unemployed in the EU continues to fall by almost 90,000 people compared to March and by a staggering 2.5 million people since April 2021.
Unemployment among young people (under 25) stood at 13.9% in April, both in the eurozone and in the EU. Youth unemployment in Spain more than doubled in the same month, at 28.9%; only Greece surpassed this figure by 36.8%.
