In 2007, 218.5 million resident persons in the EU27 aged 15 years or more had a job or a business activity. The total employment rate for people aged 15-64 was 65.4% in 2007, compared with 62.1% in 2000 and 64.5% in 2006. The employment rate for women was 58.3% in 2007, up from 53.6% in 20002 and 57.3% in 2006, and the rate for older people, i.e. those aged 55-64, was 44.7%, also up from 36.8% in 2000 and 43.5% in 2006.

This information comes from a report published by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, based on the results of the 2007 Labour Force Survey.

Smallest differences between male and female employment rates in Finland, Sweden and Lithuania

In 2007, the employment rate for persons aged 15-64 was above 70% in Denmark (77.1%), the Netherlands (76.0%), Sweden (74.2%), Austria (71.4%), the United Kingdom (71.3%), Cyprus (71.0%) and Finland (70.3%) and below 60% in Malta (55.7%), Poland (57.0%), Hungary (57.3%), Italy (58.7%) and Romania (58.8%).

Denmark (73.2%), Sweden (71.8%), the Netherlands (69.6%) and Finland (68.5%) registered the highest rates of female employment in 2007, while Malta (36.9%), Italy (46.6%) and Greece (47.9%) had the lowest. Finland (4 percentage points), Sweden (5 pp) and Lithuania (6 pp) recorded the lowest differences between male and female employment rates. On the other hand, Malta (37 pp) recorded the greatest difference, followed by Greece (27 pp), Italy (24 pp) and Spain (22 pp).

The employment rate for those aged 55-64 was highest in Sweden (70.0%), Estonia (60.0%) and Denmark (58.6%), and lowest in Malta (28.3%), Poland (29.7%) and Luxembourg (32.0%).

Highest shares of part time employment in the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom

In 2007, 18.2% of persons in the EU27 in employment worked part time4. The highest shares of part-time employment were observed in the Netherlands (46.8%), followed by Germany (26.0%), the United Kingdom (25.5%) and Sweden (25.0%) and the lowest in Bulgaria (1.7%), Slovakia (2.6%), Hungary (4.1%) and the Czech Republic (5.0%).