Euro area unemployment at 6.4%
Source: Eurostat, ec.europa.eu/eurostat. Reproduced unchanged under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Original document ↗
Overview
In August 2026, the euro area seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 6.4%, stable compared with July 2026 and up from 6.3% in August 2025. The EU unemployment rate was 6.1% in August 2026, also stable compared with July 2026 and up from 6.0% in August 2025. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.
Eurostat estimates that 13.600 million persons in the EU, of whom 11.357 million in the euro area, were unemployed in August 2026.
Compared with July 2026, unemployment increased by 12 thousand in the EU and by 26 thousand in the euro area.
Compared with August 2025, unemployment increased by 348 thousand in the EU and by 267 thousand in the euro area.
Youth unemployment
In August 2026, 2.973 million young persons (under 25) were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.391 million were in the euro area. In August 2026, the youth unemployment rate was 15.4% in the EU, up from 15.3% in the previous month, and 15.0% in the euro area, down from 15.1% in July 2026.
Compared with July 2026, youth unemployment increased by 13 thousand in the EU and decreased by 9 thousand in the euro area.
Compared with August 2025, youth unemployment increased by 19 thousand in the EU and by 38 thousand in the euro area.
Unemployment by sex
In August 2026, the unemployment rate for women was 6.4% in the EU and the unemployment rate for men was 5.9%, both stable compared with the previous month. In the euro area, the unemployment rate for women was 6.7% and the unemployment rate for men was 6.2%, both also stable compared with July 2026.
Additional labour market indicators
The estimates in this News Release are based on the globally used International Labour Organisation (ILO) standard definition of unemployment, which counts as unemployed people without a job who have been actively seeking work in the last four weeks and are available to start work within the next two weeks.
To capture in full the labour market situation, the data on unemployment have been complemented by additional indicators, e.g. underemployed part-time workers, persons seeking work but not immediately available and persons available to work but not seeking, released together with EU Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) data for the second quarter of 2026.
EU-LFS data for the third quarter of 2026 will be released on 11 December 2026.
Tables
Seasonally adjusted unemployment, totals |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rates (%) |
Number of persons (in thousands) |
|||||||||
Aug-25 |
May-26 |
Jun-26 |
Jul-26 |
Aug-26 |
Aug-25 |
May-26 |
Jun-26 |
Jul-26 |
Aug-26 |
|
Euro area |
6.3 |
6.4 |
6.4 |
6.4 |
6.4 |
11 090 |
11 235 |
11 318 |
11 331 |
11 357 |
EU |
6.0 |
6.1 |
6.1 |
6.1 |
6.1 |
13 252 |
13 502 |
13 613 |
13 588 |
13 600 |
Belgium |
6.1 |
6.3 |
6.3 |
6.0 |
5.9 |
334 |
349 |
344 |
329 |
324 |
Bulgaria |
3.7 |
3.4 |
3.5 |
3.5 |
3.5 |
113 |
102 |
106 |
107 |
106 |
Czechia |
3.1 |
2.9 |
3.2 |
3.3 |
3.2 |
166 |
159 |
176 |
180 |
173 |
Denmark |
6.5 |
6.9 |
6.6 |
6.7 |
5.9 |
215 |
230 |
221 |
223 |
197 |
Germany |
3.8 |
3.9 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
1 667 |
1 723 |
1 738 |
1 751 |
1 760 |
Estonia |
7.2 |
6.6 |
6.9 |
7.9 |
8.0 |
54 |
49 |
51 |
59 |
60 |
Ireland |
4.9 |
4.9 |
4.9 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
145 |
145 |
145 |
148 |
147 |
Greece |
8.8 |
7.8 |
8.1 |
7.9 |
7.4 |
418 |
370 |
384 |
376 |
351 |
Spain |
10.5 |
10.2 |
10.1 |
10.0 |
10.0 |
2 611 |
2 571 |
2 550 |
2 546 |
2 552 |
France |
7.8 |
8.4 |
8.3 |
8.3 |
8.2 |
2 476 |
2 683 |
2 660 |
2 653 |
2 637 |
Croatia |
4.9 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
87 |
79 |
78 |
77 |
76 |
Italy |
5.7 |
5.6 |
6.0 |
6.0 |
6.2 |
1 463 |
1 432 |
1 555 |
1 543 |
1 591 |
Cyprus |
4.2 |
3.8 |
3.9 |
4.0 |
4.1 |
22 |
20 |
21 |
21 |
22 |
Latvia |
7.2 |
6.9 |
7.1 |
7.3 |
7.3 |
68 |
66 |
68 |
70 |
70 |
Lithuania |
6.9 |
6.4 |
6.2 |
6.2 |
6.1 |
108 |
100 |
97 |
97 |
96 |
Luxembourg |
6.4 |
7.0 |
7.2 |
7.1 |
7.3 |
22 |
25 |
25 |
25 |
26 |
Hungary |
4.3 |
4.4 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.7 |
211 |
212 |
217 |
221 |
231 |
Malta |
2.5 |
3.5 |
3.5 |
3.4 |
3.4 |
8 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
Netherlands |
3.9 |
3.9 |
3.8 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
401 |
399 |
393 |
404 |
408 |
Austria |
6.0 |
6.0 |
5.8 |
6.2 |
6.7 |
284 |
285 |
278 |
295 |
319 |
Poland |
3.2 |
3.4 |
3.4 |
3.4 |
3.4 |
571 |
605 |
611 |
603 |
597 |
Portugal |
5.9 |
5.6 |
5.7 |
5.7 |
5.7 |
328 |
316 |
323 |
321 |
325 |
Romania |
6.1 |
6.7 |
6.8 |
6.4 |
6.4 |
495 |
550 |
555 |
527 |
523 |
Slovenia |
4.0 |
4.0 |
3.8 |
3.5 |
3.4 |
42 |
42 |
39 |
36 |
35 |
Slovakia |
5.4 |
5.7 |
5.7 |
5.7 |
5.7 |
150 |
158 |
157 |
158 |
156 |
Finland |
9.9 |
10.4 |
10.4 |
10.3 |
10.3 |
285 |
300 |
299 |
298 |
297 |
Sweden |
8.8 |
8.7 |
8.7 |
8.7 |
8.7 |
507 |
506 |
507 |
508 |
509 |
Iceland |
4.5 |
5.7 |
5.7 |
5.8 |
5.8 |
11 |
13 |
13 |
13 |
13 |
Norway |
4.6 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
141 |
139 |
137 |
137 |
136 |
Switzerland |
4.9 |
5.1 |
5.1 |
: |
: |
253 |
266 |
264 |
: |
: |
United States |
4.3 |
4.3 |
4.2 |
4.1 |
4.1 |
7 409 |
7 300 |
7 088 |
6 904 |
7 057 |
: Data not available Source datasets: une_rt_m (rates) and une_rt_m (in 1 000 persons)
|
||||||||||
Seasonally adjusted youth (under 25s) unemployment |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rates (%) |
Number of persons (in thousands) |
|||||||||
Aug-25 |
May-26 |
Jun-26 |
Jul-26 |
Aug-26 |
Aug-25 |
May-26 |
Jun-26 |
Jul-26 |
Aug-26 |
|
Euro area |
14.8 |
15.2 |
15.2 |
15.1 |
15.0 |
2 353 |
2 422 |
2 416 |
2 400 |
2 391 |
EU |
15.3 |
15.6 |
15.7 |
15.3 |
15.4 |
2 954 |
3 023 |
3 049 |
2 960 |
2 973 |
Belgium |
18.4 |
19.1 |
19.1 |
: |
: |
88 |
93 |
93 |
: |
: |
Bulgaria |
14.5 |
12.8 |
13.4 |
13.9 |
13.5 |
17 |
16 |
17 |
17 |
17 |
Czechia |
10.7 |
8.7 |
13.2 |
12.5 |
12.0 |
33 |
28 |
45 |
41 |
39 |
Denmark |
15.6 |
14.7 |
15.8 |
10.7 |
15.0 |
79 |
78 |
81 |
57 |
77 |
Germany |
7.0 |
7.5 |
7.5 |
7.4 |
7.4 |
315 |
331 |
330 |
329 |
328 |
Estonia |
21.7 |
22.2 |
25.9 |
28.5 |
28.4 |
14 |
14 |
17 |
19 |
19 |
Ireland |
12.6 |
11.5 |
11.6 |
12.4 |
12.3 |
46 |
42 |
42 |
45 |
44 |
Greece |
21.8 |
17.1 |
20.9 |
16.5 |
15.6 |
58 |
43 |
57 |
45 |
43 |
Spain |
25.0 |
24.0 |
23.3 |
22.8 |
22.7 |
461 |
466 |
454 |
449 |
452 |
France |
19.4 |
21.6 |
21.2 |
20.8 |
20.6 |
661 |
741 |
724 |
707 |
699 |
Croatia |
18.4 |
16.4 |
16.4 |
: |
: |
21 |
19 |
19 |
: |
: |
Italy |
19.8 |
17.7 |
19.4 |
19.7 |
20.3 |
248 |
221 |
246 |
244 |
253 |
Cyprus |
13.0 |
11.9 |
11.9 |
: |
: |
4 |
3 |
3 |
: |
: |
Latvia |
11.9 |
13.6 |
14.1 |
15.4 |
16.0 |
8 |
10 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
Lithuania |
13.1 |
12.4 |
11.5 |
12.1 |
12.5 |
14 |
12 |
11 |
11 |
11 |
Luxembourg |
18.8 |
19.4 |
20.1 |
20.2 |
20.8 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
Hungary |
15.0 |
12.8 |
13.5 |
15.2 |
15.4 |
45 |
36 |
40 |
45 |
44 |
Malta |
7.5 |
8.8 |
9.3 |
9.7 |
9.7 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
Netherlands |
8.6 |
8.7 |
8.5 |
8.6 |
8.8 |
156 |
157 |
152 |
154 |
157 |
Austria |
12.3 |
8.6 |
10.7 |
12.3 |
13.1 |
62 |
45 |
55 |
65 |
67 |
Poland |
12.4 |
11.9 |
11.6 |
11.4 |
11.3 |
142 |
135 |
131 |
127 |
126 |
Portugal |
18.9 |
19.8 |
20.0 |
21.0 |
19.8 |
72 |
74 |
75 |
79 |
74 |
Romania |
25.9 |
30.8 |
30.8 |
: |
: |
127 |
147 |
147 |
: |
: |
Slovenia |
13.2 |
14.3 |
14.3 |
: |
: |
10 |
12 |
12 |
: |
: |
Slovakia |
15.6 |
18.8 |
18.5 |
18.0 |
17.4 |
20 |
24 |
24 |
23 |
22 |
Finland |
22.4 |
23.2 |
23.3 |
23.3 |
23.3 |
74 |
76 |
76 |
75 |
75 |
Sweden |
24.1 |
24.1 |
24.0 |
23.9 |
23.8 |
168 |
173 |
174 |
174 |
174 |
Iceland |
9.5 |
11.7 |
11.2 |
11.0 |
11.0 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
Norway |
18.1 |
14.3 |
14.0 |
12.0 |
13.6 |
83 |
65 |
64 |
55 |
62 |
Switzerland |
8.3 |
9.5 |
9.0 |
: |
: |
49 |
57 |
54 |
: |
: |
: Data not available Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Romania and Slovenia: quarterly data Source datasets: une_rt_m (rates) and une_rt_m (in 1 000 persons)
|
||||||||||
Seasonally adjusted unemployment rates (%), by sex |
||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Males |
Females |
|||||||||
Aug-25 |
May-26 |
Jun-26 |
Jul-26 |
Aug- 26 |
Aug-25 |
May-26 |
Jun-26 |
Jul-26 |
Aug-26 |
|
Euro area |
6.1 |
6.2 |
6.2 |
6.2 |
6.2 |
6.5 |
6.6 |
6.6 |
6.7 |
6.7 |
EU |
5.8 |
5.9 |
6.0 |
5.9 |
5.9 |
6.2 |
6.3 |
6.3 |
6.4 |
6.4 |
Belgium |
6.6 |
6.9 |
6.9 |
6.6 |
6.4 |
5.6 |
5.7 |
5.6 |
5.4 |
5.4 |
Bulgaria |
3.9 |
3.9 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
3.9 |
3.5 |
2.8 |
2.9 |
3.0 |
3.1 |
Czechia |
2.6 |
2.5 |
2.9 |
2.7 |
2.7 |
3.6 |
3.5 |
3.7 |
4.1 |
3.7 |
Denmark |
6.5 |
6.1 |
6.9 |
5.7 |
5.5 |
6.6 |
7.9 |
6.3 |
7.7 |
6.4 |
Germany |
4.1 |
4.2 |
4.2 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
3.4 |
3.6 |
3.7 |
3.7 |
3.7 |
Estonia |
8.3 |
6.6 |
6.6 |
8.0 |
8.2 |
6.2 |
6.6 |
7.2 |
7.8 |
7.9 |
Ireland |
5.0 |
4.7 |
4.7 |
4.8 |
4.8 |
4.9 |
5.1 |
5.1 |
5.2 |
5.1 |
Greece |
6.9 |
5.2 |
6.3 |
5.9 |
4.9 |
11.1 |
10.9 |
10.2 |
10.4 |
10.3 |
Spain |
9.1 |
9.1 |
9.0 |
8.9 |
8.9 |
12.0 |
11.4 |
11.3 |
11.2 |
11.3 |
France |
7.8 |
8.5 |
8.4 |
8.4 |
8.3 |
7.7 |
8.2 |
8.2 |
8.2 |
8.2 |
Croatia |
5.5 |
4.8 |
4.9 |
4.8 |
4.8 |
4.2 |
3.9 |
3.8 |
3.7 |
3.7 |
Italy |
5.3 |
5.2 |
5.6 |
5.4 |
5.7 |
6.4 |
6.0 |
6.6 |
6.7 |
6.8 |
Cyprus |
4.0 |
3.6 |
3.6 |
3.7 |
3.7 |
4.5 |
3.9 |
4.1 |
4.3 |
4.5 |
Latvia |
8.3 |
7.9 |
8.1 |
8.2 |
8.0 |
6.1 |
6.0 |
6.2 |
6.5 |
6.7 |
Lithuania |
7.8 |
7.0 |
6.7 |
6.7 |
6.4 |
5.9 |
5.7 |
5.7 |
5.8 |
5.8 |
Luxembourg |
6.3 |
6.8 |
6.9 |
6.9 |
7.0 |
6.6 |
7.2 |
7.4 |
7.4 |
7.6 |
Hungary |
4.3 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
4.4 |
4.6 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.7 |
4.7 |
4.9 |
Malta |
2.9 |
3.6 |
3.5 |
3.4 |
3.5 |
1.9 |
3.4 |
3.4 |
3.4 |
3.3 |
Netherlands |
3.8 |
3.8 |
3.8 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
4.0 |
3.9 |
4.0 |
Austria |
6.6 |
6.3 |
6.3 |
6.7 |
6.4 |
5.4 |
5.6 |
5.3 |
5.7 |
7.0 |
Poland |
2.8 |
3.4 |
3.4 |
3.3 |
3.3 |
3.6 |
3.4 |
3.5 |
3.5 |
3.5 |
Portugal |
5.4 |
5.0 |
5.0 |
4.9 |
5.2 |
6.3 |
6.1 |
6.4 |
6.4 |
6.3 |
Romania |
6.3 |
6.6 |
6.6 |
6.2 |
6.3 |
5.7 |
7.0 |
7.1 |
6.7 |
6.5 |
Slovenia |
3.7 |
3.7 |
3.4 |
3.2 |
3.1 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.2 |
3.9 |
3.8 |
Slovakia |
5.2 |
5.5 |
5.5 |
5.5 |
5.5 |
5.8 |
6.1 |
6.0 |
6.0 |
5.9 |
Finland |
10.6 |
10.9 |
10.8 |
10.7 |
10.7 |
9.2 |
9.9 |
9.9 |
9.9 |
9.9 |
Sweden |
8.9 |
8.8 |
8.8 |
8.8 |
8.7 |
8.7 |
8.6 |
8.7 |
8.7 |
8.7 |
Iceland |
4.6 |
5.6 |
5.6 |
5.7 |
5.8 |
4.2 |
5.9 |
5.9 |
5.9 |
5.8 |
Norway |
5.2 |
4.7 |
4.8 |
4.3 |
4.6 |
4.5 |
4.2 |
4.4 |
4.0 |
4.3 |
Switzerland |
5.0 |
5.2 |
5.2 |
: |
: |
4.8 |
5.1 |
5.0 |
: |
: |
: Data not available Source dataset: une_rt_m
|
||||||||||
Notes for users
Revisions and timetable
The data in this News Release can be subject to revisions, caused by updates to the seasonally adjusted series whenever new monthly data are added; the inclusion of the most recent EU-LFS data in the calculation process; update of seasonal adjustment models with complete annual data.
Compared with the rates published in the News Release of 1 September 2026, the July 2026 unemployment rate for the EU and the unemployment rate for the euro area remained unchanged. Among EU Member States, the rate has been revised by more than 0.1 percentage points (pp) downwards for Finland (by 0.2 pp). The rate has been revised by more than 0.1 percentage points (pp) upwards for Estonia (by 1.0 pp) and Italy (by 0.2 pp).
Country notes
Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden as well as Iceland and Norway: the trend component is used instead of the more volatile seasonally adjusted data.
Estonia and Portugal: 3-month moving averages of EU-LFS data are used instead of pure monthly indicators.
Methods and definitions
Eurostat publishes harmonised unemployment rates for individual EU Member States, the euro area and the EU. These unemployment rates are based on the definition recommended by the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The measurement is based on a harmonised data source, the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS).
Based on the ILO definition, Eurostat defines unemployed persons as persons aged 15 to 74 who:
are without work;
are available to start work within the next two weeks;
and have actively sought employment at some time during the previous four weeks.
The unemployment rate is the number of people unemployed as a percentage of the labour force.
The labour force is the total number of people employed plus unemployed. In this news release unemployment rates are based on employment and unemployment data covering persons aged 15 to 74.
The youth unemployment rate is the number of people aged 15 to 24 unemployed as a percentage of the labour force of the same age. Therefore, the youth unemployment rate should not be interpreted as the share of jobless people in the overall youth population.
When data for the most recent month are not available for a Member State, EU and EA aggregates are calculated using the latest data available for that Member State.
Geographical information
Euro area (EA21): Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.
European Union (EU 27): Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden.
For more information
Database section on unemployment, including non-seasonally adjusted and trend data
Source: Eurostat, ec.europa.eu/eurostat. Original document ↗