According to Eurostat, more than 75 per cent of the European Union’s 20 to 64-year-olds, or altogether 195.7 million people, were employed in 2023; in Estonia, the employment rate reached 82.1 per cent, which was the third highest indicator among member states.
Among the EU countries, the highest employment rates were recorded in the Netherlands at 83.5 per cent, Sweden at 82.6 per cent and Estonia at 82.1 per cent. The lowest rates were recorded in Italy at 66.3 per cent, Greece at 67.4 per cent and Romania at 68.7 per cent.
In 2023, the EU over-qualification rate was 22 per cent, with 21 per cent for men and 23 per cent for women. Over-qualification is when people with tertiary education are employed in occupations that do not require such a high level of education.
In 18 of the 27 EU countries, women had higher over-qualification rates than men, with the largest differences recorded in Malta and Slovakia, both at eight percentage points, and Italy at seven percentage points.
Among the EU countries, the over-qualification rate was highest in Spain, 36 per cent, followed by Greece with 31 per cent and Cyprus with 30 per cent. Meanwhile, Luxembourg with five per cent and Denmark and the Czech Republic both with 13 per cent recorded the lowest rates.
