In 2018, the EU average employment rate of persons aged 20-64 years ranged from 65% among persons born outside the EU, through 74% among the native-born population, to 77% for persons born in another EU Member State, according to the latest data published by Eurostat.
However, the data from the European Statistical Office show that these high percentages of employment are not met equally in all countries and for all population groups.
For example in Finland, the employment rate is 77.2% among the people born in the country and 75.3% among those people from another EU-28 country. The difference is very small between these two population groups. But the rate drops to 59.7% among natives of non-EU countries.
This means that, compared to the 28 EU member states, Finland exhibits the fourth lowest employment rate among non-Europeans. The lowest rate is found in Belgium (53.9%). Next, they appear in the ranking Greece (54.4%) and France (57.5%).
The highest rates
The figures also show that, among the 28 member states, the United Kingdom reported the highest employment rate for persons born in another EU country (86%), closely followed by Portugal (84%), Sweden (83%), Malta (81%) and Germany (80%).
The highest employment rates for the native-born population were recorded in Sweden (87%), Germany and the Netherlands (both 82%), Estonia (81%) and Denmark (80%).
For those from outside the EU, the employment rate was highest in Czechia (84%), followed by Slovakia (81%), Malta (80%), Romania (78%), Poland (77%) and Portugal (76%).
In contrast, Greece recorded the lowest employment rates for persons born elsewhere in the EU (55%) and the native-born population (60%).
