The European Union's employment rate reached 76.1% in 2025 — its highest level since Eurostat (the EU's official statistics agency) began tracking the figure in 2009 — with nearly 197.7 million people aged 20 to 64 in work, according to newly published Eurostat data. Malta, the Netherlands, and Czechia posted the bloc's highest national rates, while Italy, Romania, and Greece lagged behind. A gender gap of 9.6 percentage points persisted across the EU, with men employed at a rate of 80.9% compared with 71.3% for women, though Lithuania was the sole member state where women's employment outpaced men's.