Educated, but without a job: what country in Europe has the largest number of unemployed among university graduates / what place Romania is

The unemployment rate is higher among the general population than among university graduates in Europe, except for a single country, according to data analyzed by Euronews Business.

A university degree reduces the chances of being unemployed in Europe, writes the source, who points out that there are fewer university graduates than among the general population in almost all European countries.

In the 33 countries, Turkey is the only exception. According to Eurostat, university graduates are experiencing a higher unemployment rate than the general population in this country.

In which countries higher education makes the difference

In 2024, in 33 countries, including the European Union Member States, EU candidate countries and AELS (European Free Trade Association), the unemployment rate among people between the ages of 15 and 74 ranged from 2.6 % in the Czech Republic to 11.4 % in Spain. These figures reflect the total population, without taking into account the level of education. The EU average was 5.9 %.

At the top of the ranking, Greece (10.1%), Turkey (8.8%), Serbia (8.6%) and Finland and Sweden (8.4%) followed Spain, reporting unemployment rates of over 8%.

At the end of the list, along with the Czech Republic, Poland (2.9 %), Malta (3.1 %), Germany (3.4 %), Iceland (3.6 %), as well as the Netherlands and Slovenia (both with 3.7 %) registered unemployment rates below 4 %.

In Romania, last year, the unemployment rate among the general population was 5.4%, and the unemployment rate among the university graduates was 1.9%.

Among the university graduates, defined as persons with higher education, according to ISCED classification (standard international classification of education), unemployment rates in 2024 ranged from 1.4 % in the Czech Republic and Poland to 9.2 % in Turkey. The EU average was at 3.8 %.

After Turkey, the highest unemployment rates among university graduates were registered in Greece (7.3 %), Spain (6.9 %), Serbia (6.5 %) and France (5 %).

Unemployment Rate General Population VS University graduates

Regarding the unemployment rate among the general population and that among graduates of higher education, Turkey was the only country where, in 2024, the unemployment rate among graduates of higher education was higher than that among the general population. The difference was –0.4 percentage points.

“It is indeed unusual for the unemployment rate among higher education graduates is higher than among the other members of the workforce,” the OECDE Bureau of Turkey told Euronews.

The biggest difference was registered in Spain, with 4.5%. The unemployment rate was 11.4 % for the total population, compared to 6.9 % for graduates of university studies in Spain. The EU average was 2.1 % (5.9 % compared to 3.8 %).

Because unemployment rates vary significantly from country to country, absolute differences may not fully reflect the extent of the gap. To better compare countries, the ratio between the rate of unemployment rate and university studies graduates can be useful, writes Euronews Business.

EU: General unemployment is 55 % higher than among graduates

Turkey is the only country with a report below 1, respectively 0.96, while the EU average is 1.55. This means that, in the EU, the unemployment rate among the general population is, on average, 1.55 times higher than among university graduates, ie 55 % higher.

The report is 1.23 in Cyprus, 1.26 in Switzerland, 1.31 in Germany and 1.32 in Denmark, Netherlands and Serbia. This suggests that unemployment rates among the general population and graduates of higher education are relatively close in these countries.

Romania (2.84), Slovakia (2.65), Bulgaria (2.63) and Hungary (2.50) have the highest relations, which means that graduates of university studies have significantly lower unemployment rates than the general population.

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