Estonia exceeds 2020 EU goal with 80% employment rate in 2018
The employment rate of people between the ages of 20 and 64 in Estonia was 79.5% last year, with which the country achieved the Europe 2020 strategy target of reaching a total employment rate of at least 75% for people within that age range by 2020.
In 2018, the employment rate exceeded the 75% mark in 13 EU countries. The highest employment rate was in Sweden, 82.6%, followed by the Czech Republic and Germany, both with 79.9%, it appears from data available from Eurostat.
The lowest employment rate was recorded in Greece, 59.5%, followed by Italy with 63% and Croatia with 65.2%.
In 2018, the overall employment rate of people between the ages of 20 and 64 in the EU stood at 73.2%, up 1% compared to 2017. Thus the goal of 75% employment set in the Europe 2020 strategy has not yet been achieved.
The employment rate of people between the ages of 55 and 64 in Estonia last year was 68.9%, one of the highest indicators in the EU. This indicator stood at 58.7% in the EU as a whole.
Raising the employment rate of this particular age group is likewise one of the goals of the employment strategy.
Editor: Aili Vahtla