Technical sheet: Unemployment rate (annual)
Definition, official source, coverage and calculation method of Unemployment rate (annual). Country ranking →
Source: Eurostat (une_rt_a), retrieved 2026-10-17 · View on Eurostat
What it measures
| Indicator | Unemployment rate (annual) |
|---|---|
| Unit | % of labour force |
| Frequency | Annual |
| Access | Registered |
Official Eurostat definition
| Dataset | Unemployment by sex and age - annual data (une_rt_a) |
|---|---|
| Time frequency | Annual |
| Age class | From 15 to 74 years |
| Unit of measure | Percentage of population in the labour force |
| Sex | Total |
| Permanent identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.2908/UNE_RT_A |
| Eurostat explanatory notes | Information note · Explanatory texts (metadata) |
| Last dataset update at Eurostat | 2026-09-10 |
How to read it
A lower value indicates a more favourable situation.
Coverage
| Countries with data | 35 ·                                    |
|---|---|
| First period available | 2003 |
| Latest period published | 2025 |
| Ranking reference period | 2025 Latest period for which at least 60% of the countries that publish the indicator have released data, so the ranking is not built on a few early countries. |
IPEF calculations
- Year-on-year change: difference from the same period a year earlier (in points for percentages, as a percentage (%) otherwise).
- Rank: order among countries with data for the period; the EU27 and euro-area aggregates are not ranked. Ties share the same rank.
- Trend: latest figure against the average of the previous periods (12 months, 8 quarters, 4 half-years or 5 years).
- IPEF calculations on Eurostat data: changes, ranks and averages are computed among the countries with data for the period. The EU27 and euro-area aggregates are those published by Eurostat and are not ranked.