In 2020, the employment rate among the population aged 20-64 living in the EU was lower for non-EU citizens (57.2%) than for nationals (73.3%) and citizens of other EU member states (73.0%). Czech regions recorded some of the highest employment rates in Europe for non-EU citizens, indicating high levels of integration into the workforce. Photo Credit: Freepik / Illustrative Photo.
Czech Rep., June 3 (BD) – According to a recent report from Eurostat, the employment rate for EU citizens is significantly above that for non-EU citizens living in the EU. The employment rate is defined as the share of the working-age population, aged 20-64 years, who are in employment. In 2020, the EU employment rate for nationals living in their home countries was 73.3%, slightly higher than the rate for citizens from other EU member states (73.0%). By contrast, the EU employment rate for working-age non-EU citizens was just 57.2%.
Image: Employment rate for nationals, by NUTS 2 regions, 2020 (Cropped). Credit: Eurostat.
By region, the highest employment rate for nationals was recorded in the German region of Chemnitz (87.7%). Nine other German regions were among the 13 with an employment rate higher than 85%, along with one region in Finland and two in Sweden.
At the other end of the range, the four regions with the lowest employment rates for nationals were all in the south of Italy — Apulia, Calabria, Sicily, and Campania— three of which recorded employment rates of less than 50%.
Image: Employment rate for non-EU citizens, by NUTS 2 regions, 2020 (Cropped). Credit: Eurostat.
Among the EU regions with available and reliable data, the highest employment rate for non-EU citizens was 94.7%, in the Czech region of Central Moravia. Non-EU employment rates of at least 85% were also observed in the Czech regions of South-West, North-West, Central Bohemia, North-East, and South-East.
At the other end of the scale, 34 regions around Europe recorded fewer than half of non-EU citizens in employment. Among these were seven regions where the employment rate was below 40%, and in the French overseas region of Guiana and the Belgian regions of Hainaut and Liège the figure dropped below 30%.
Image: Employment rate for citizens of other EU Member States, by NUTS 2 regions, 2020 (Cropped). Credit: Eurostat.
The highest employment rate for citizens of other EU member states was recorded in the German region of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (95.6%). There were 13 more regions where the rate was more than 85%, including five in Czechia (North-East, South-West, South-East, Prague, and Central Bohemia), three in Germany (Lower Bavaria, Oberfranken, and Hamburg) and individual regions in the Netherlands, Portugal, Malta, Denmark, and Sweden.
In contrast, eight regions recorded employment rates below 50% for citizens of other EU member states, including the Italian regions of Sardinia, Sicily, Apulia, Campania, Basilicata, and Calabria, and the North and Central regions of Greece.
