Estonia ranks fifth in EU for employment rate in second quarter
Estonia's employment rate for people aged 20 to 64 reached 81.9% in the second quarter, placing the country fifth in the European Union, while unemployment fell notably.
Estonia has ranked among the top five European Union countries for employment among people aged 20 to 64, according to Eurostat data for the second quarter. The country's employment rate reached 81.9%.
Only Malta (84%), the Netherlands (83.2%), Czechia (83.1%) and Cyprus (82.3%) recorded higher employment rates. The EU average stood at 76.4% in the second quarter, up 0.1 percentage points from the first quarter.
Unemployment drops
At the same time, Estonia's unemployment rate fell noticeably, from 7% in the first quarter to 6.2% in the second. This is one of the largest declines recorded across the EU, with only Greece posting a bigger drop.
Estonia also ranked among the EU leaders in growth of female employment, with the rate rising by 0.8 percentage points over the quarter. The gender employment gap in Estonia remains minimal: in the second quarter, 81.7% of men and 82.1% of women aged 20 to 64 were employed.
Across the EU as a whole, unemployment rose from 5.7% to 5.8% in the second quarter. Among EU countries, the highest employment rate was recorded in Malta, while the lowest was in Italy, at 68.2%.
