In 2012, 15.2 million foreign citizens worked in the EU27, accounting for 7% of total employment. Among these foreign citizens, 6.6 million were citizens of another EU Member State and 8.6 million were citizens of a country outside the EU. In the EU27, the employment rate for citizens of another EU Member State (67.7%) was slightly higher than for nationals (64.6%) and significantly higher than for citizens of a country outside the EU (53.7%).

In Malta the employment rate for citizens of another EU Member State was 53.2%, which is the lowest in the EU, while the employment rate for citizens of a country outside the EU stood at 58.7%. The emploment rate for Nationals stood at 59.1%.

The unemployment rate in Malta was 6.3% for Nationionals, there was no record for citizens of another EU member state or for citizens of a country outside the EU.

As regards unemployment, the unemployment rate for citizens of another EU Member State (12.5%) was higher than for nationals (9.8%), but significantly lower than for citizens of a country outside the EU (21.3%).

This information comes from a publication issued by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, based on the 2012 results of the European Labour Force Survey.

Lower unemployment rate for nationals than for foreign citizens

The employment rate for citizens of another EU Member State ranged from 53.2% in Malta to 80.2% in Slovenia, while for nationals it varied from 51.5% in Greece to 75.8% in the Netherlands, and for citizens of a country outside the EU from 36.2% in Belgium to 73.4% in Cyprus.

The unemployment rate for citizens of another EU Member State ranged from 5.5% in the Netherlands to 30.6% in Spain, while for nationals it varied from 3.3% in Luxembourg to 23.4% in Greece, and for citizens of a country outside the EU from 5.1% in the Czech Republic to 38.6% in Spain.

Largest proportion of self-employed in Greece, Italy and Portugal

In the EU27 in 2012, 32.8 million persons were self-employed, accounting for 15% of total employment. Among Member States the proportion of those self-employed was highest in Greece (31.9%), Italy (23.4%), Portugal (21.1%) and Romania (20.1%), and lowest in Estonia (8.3%), Luxembourg (8.4%), Denmark (8.9%) and Lithuania (9.7%). In some of the Member States with the highest shares of self-employment, e.g. Greece, Portugal, Romania or Poland, self-employment in agriculture has a significant effect.

In Malta 13.3% of persons were self-employed and 32.6% of them had employees.

Just over a quarter (28%) of self-employed persons in the EU27 had employees in 2012, with the largest proportions registered in Hungary (46.5%), Estonia (43.6%), Germany (42.9%) and Austria (41.7%).

In the EU27, a higher proportion of men (19%) were self-employed than women (10%). This was the case in all Member States, with the largest relative differences observed in Ireland (23.6% for men and 6.7% for women), Malta (17.1% and 6.5%), Sweden (14.3% and 5.7%) and Estonia (11.9% and 4.8%).

Permalink: Malta has lowest employment rate of EU citizens at 53.2%