Labor shortage in Europe - Which countries have the most job vacancies?
Europe is facing both high unemployment and labor shortages. According to Eurostat, about 13 million people were unemployed in the EU in May this year, while millions of jobs remain vacant and attract migrants.
Unemployment and labour shortages are serious problems across Europe. Eurostat estimates that around 13.1 million people were unemployed in the EU in May this year. Although the European Commission has taken several policies to address employment and social challenges in the EU, millions of jobs remain unfilled. In the second quarter of 2025, Germany had over 1 million vacancies, while France had around half a million. So how do European countries rank in this sector?
In calculating the job vacancy rate, both the number of vacant positions and the number of occupied positions are taken into account to reflect total demand. This rate shows the percentage of positions that are available. In the second quarter of 2025, 2.1% of jobs in the EU were vacant. This percentage is lower compared to 2.2% in the first quarter of 2025.
The job vacancy rate ranges from 0.6% in Romania, which has the lowest level, to 4.2% in the Netherlands, which has the highest level. This stark contrast reflects the great differences in European labor markets. Belgium (4.1%) is next, as are Austria and Norway (both 3.4%). This shows that Northwestern Europe has the highest demand for workers, while Eastern and Southern Europe show weaker levels.
After Romania, the lowest vacancy rates are found in Spain and Poland (0.8%), Bulgaria (0.9%) and Turkey and Slovakia (1.1%). Germany and France, Europe's two largest economies, have a rate of 2.5%, above the EU average (2.1%). Meanwhile, in Italy, the demand is 1.7%.
Among the 30 European countries under review, Germany has the highest number of job vacancies, with 1.05 million. At the same time, the country remains the most popular destination for immigration in Europe. According to Eurostat, in 2023, it hosted the largest number of immigrants: 324,000 from EU countries, 905,000 from countries outside the bloc and 42,000 of unknown origin, a total of 1,271,000 people.
Spain presents a different situation. It ranks 8th in terms of the number of vacancies with 145,000, but is very close to Germany in terms of the number of immigrants, with a total of 1.25 million. The United Kingdom ranks second with 781,000 vacancies, followed by France with 504,000. The Netherlands, meanwhile, ranks fourth with 400,000 vacancies.
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