Spain Tops EU with Highest Youth Unemployment at 25.3% in 2025
Spain leads the EU in youth unemployment with a 25.3% rate in 2025, despite growth in total employment and active population.
- • Spain has the highest overall EU unemployment rate at 10.5% in October 2025, totaling 2.5 million unemployed.
- • Youth unemployment in Spain is 25.3%, more than 10 points above the EU average of 15.2%.
- • The active population in Spain has surpassed 25 million, with foreign workers making up 16% of the workforce.
- • Unemployment has slightly decreased to 10.45%, with a forecasted drop to 10.2% in 2026.
- • Despite growth, labour force participation is low at 59.3%, affected by low involvement of older workers and women.
Key details
Spain continues to face a formidable challenge in its labour market, leading the European Union with the highest overall and youth unemployment rates in 2025. According to Eurostat's latest data from October 2025, Spain's unemployment rate stands at 10.5%, amounting to roughly 2.5 million unemployed individuals. This rate is significantly above the eurozone average of 6.4% and the EU average of 6%, illustrating the depth of Spain's employment crisis.
Youth unemployment in Spain is particularly severe, reaching 25.3%, more than 10 percentage points above both the EU average of 15.2% and the eurozone's 14.8%. This translates to nearly 479,000 young Spaniards under the age of 25 without work. Neighboring Nordic countries like Finland and Sweden have relatively high youth unemployment rates as well, but still lag behind Spain, registering 24.8% and 24.7% respectively. In contrast, countries such as Germany (6.6%) and the Netherlands (9%) enjoy much lower youth unemployment figures.
Despite these alarming numbers, Spain's labour market has shown some areas of growth. The total active population has exceeded 25 million, buoyed by an influx of foreign workers who now constitute 16% of the workforce (3.52 million individuals). Employment has risen to 22.38 million, reflecting an annual increase of over half a million workers. The unemployment rate has slightly decreased to 10.45%, with projections suggesting a further drop to 10.2% in 2026. The temporary employment rate has hit a historic low of 15.6%, indicating improvements in job stability.
However, participation rates in the labour force remain relatively low at 59.3%, due largely to lower involvement from older workers and women. Recent months have seen some decline in employment linked to the hospitality sector, suggesting that economic growth has not yet fully alleviated job insecurity.
In summary, while Spain's job market exhibits growth indicators such as record active and employed populations and decreasing unemployment, the persistent and unprecedented youth unemployment rate sharply underscores the ongoing socio-economic difficulties facing the country. This crisis remains a critical concern for policymakers aiming to foster sustainable economic recovery and inclusion for Spain's younger generation.
This article was translated and synthesized from Spanish sources, providing English-speaking readers with local perspectives.
