A quarter of young Europeans aged 15 to 29 combined formal education with a job in 2024, while more than seven in 10 were not working or looking for work as they studied.
Some 25.4% of people aged 15 to 29 were employed while in formal education, 71.4% were outside the labour force and 3.2% were unemployed — meaning they were available for work and actively seeking a job, Eurostat reported on Monday.
The Netherlands recorded the highest share of young people working while studying at 74.3%, followed by Denmark at 56.4% and Germany at 45.8%.
The lowest shares were in Romania at 2.4%, Greece at 6.0% and Croatia at 6.4%.
Among young people in formal education who were unemployed, Sweden had the highest proportion at 14.1%, followed by Finland at 10.0% and Denmark at 9.6%.
Romania recorded 0.6%, while Croatia, Czechia and Hungary each reported 0.8%.
Differences by age and sex
In the 15 to 19 age group, 74.4% of women and 70.4% of men were outside the labour force while in education, Eurostat said.
Among those aged 20 to 24, the share outside the labour force fell to 30.9% for women and 24.8% for men, while 19.6% of women and 17.0% of men were employed while studying.
For those aged 25 to 29, employment was 62.0% among women and 71.9% among men.
In this age group, 16.2% of women were outside the labour force and not in formal education, compared with 6.9% of men.
