Nine EU member states – including Malta – have employment rates above 75 per cent, ahead of the 2020 targets, Eurostat reported on Friday.

The Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Lithuania and Sweden have already met or exceeded their 2020 national targets for this indicator in 2017, as have Ireland, Croatia, Latvia and Malta.

The lowest employment rate was observed in Greece (57.8%), although it grew over the year (+1.6 pp), followed by Italy (62.3%, +0.7 pp) and Croatia.
In 2017, the employment rate of people aged 20 to 64 in the European Union (EU) stood at 72.2%, up compared with 2016 (71.1%).

The Europe 2020 strategy target is to reach a total employment rate for people aged 20 to 64 of at least 75 per cent in the EU by 2020.

The upward trend in the employment rate is visible both for men and women. The employment rate for men hit 78 per cent in 2017, an increase compared with 2016 (76.9%) and nearly the same as its 2008 level (77.9%) when the previous peak was recorded.

As for women, their employment rate has continuously risen since 2010 to reach 66.5 per cent in 2017 (as compared to 65.3% in 2016). Similarly, the employment rate of persons aged 55 to 64 in the EU has grown steadily, from 38.4 per cent in 2002 to 57.1 per cent in 2017.

The greater participation of older workers is also one of the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy on employment.

However, the employment rates of men and women continued to vary considerably between member states in 2017.

The difference between the employment rate of women and that of men aged 20-64 was lowest in Lithuania (75.5% for women vs. 76.5% for men, or -1.0 pp), with the largest difference in Malta (58% for women vs. 84.1% for men, or -26.1 pp).

At EU level, the difference between the employment rate of women aged 20-64 (66.5%) and that of men aged 20-64 (78.0%) was -11.5pp in 2017.

From 38.4% in 2002, the employment rate of people aged 55-64 in the EU has grown steadily to reach 57.1% in 2017. The highest employment rate for this age group was observed in Sweden (76.4%) and the lowest in Greece (38.3%).
Compared with 2016, the employment rate for those aged 55 to 64 increased in 2017 in all EU member states.

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