In the third quarter of 2024, the job vacancy rate was 2.5% in the euro area, down from 2.6% in the second quarter of 2024 and down from 3.0% in the third quarter of 2023, according to figures published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. The job vacancy rate in the EU was 2.3% in the third quarter of 2024, down from 2.4% in the second quarter of 2024 and down from 2.7% in the third quarter of 2023.
Among the Member States for which comparable data are available (see country notes), the highest job vacancy rates in the third quarter of 2024 were recorded in the Netherlands (4.3%), Belgium (4.2%), and Austria (3.8%). By contrast, the lowest rates were observed in Romania and Bulgaria (0.8% in both of them) and in Poland and Spain (0.9% in both of them).
Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, the job vacancy rate increased in five Member States, remained stable in six Member States and decreased in 16 Member States. The largest increases were observed in Cyprus (+0.6 pp) and Greece (+0.5 pp). The largest decreases were recorded in Germany (-1.1 pp) and Austria (-0.8 pp).
The figure below presents the job vacancy rates of the euro area and the EU by economic activity, in the third quarter of 2024. Data are displayed for the business economy, for which data are available from all EU countries. The highest job vacancy rates, for both the euro area and the EU, were recorded in:
Notes for users
Revisions and timetable
Compared with the rates published in the News Release of 13 September 2024, the job vacancy rate for the second quarter of 2024 remained the same, both for the euro area and for the EU.
Country notes
Denmark, France and Italy: data are not strictly comparable. In Denmark, only units within the business economy (NACE Rev 2 sections B to N) are surveyed. In France and Italy, public institutions are not covered within public administration, education and human health (NACE Rev. 2 sections O, P and Q).
Methods and definitions
The job vacancy rate (JVR) measures the proportion of total posts that are vacant, expressed as a percentage:
JVR = (number of job vacancies) / (number of occupied posts + number of job vacancies).
A job vacancy is defined as a paid post (newly created, unoccupied or about to become vacant) for which the employer is taking active steps to find a suitable candidate from outside the enterprise concerned and is prepared to take more steps and which the employer intends to fill either immediately or in the near future. Under this definition, a job vacancy should be open to candidates from outside an enterprise. However, this does not exclude the possibility of the employer recruiting an internal candidate for the post. A vacant post that is open only to internal candidates should not be treated as a job vacancy. An occupied post is a paid post within an organisation to which an employee has been assigned.
Job vacancy rates cover NACE Rev. 2 sections B to S. This aggregate is referred to as “Whole economy” for the sake of simplification, even if sections A: ‘Agriculture, forestry and fishing’, T: ‘Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods and services producing activities of households for own use’ and U: ‘Activities of extraterritorial organisations and bodies’ are excluded. Sections B to S include the industry (B to E), construction (F) and services (G to N) sectors together with (mainly) non-market services (O to S).
The job vacancy rates for the EU and euro area aggregates are based on Member States data, including estimates for recent periods when values are not yet available. If national data are only available for a sub-population, for example excluding smaller units or some activities, this sub-population is used in the computation of the job vacancy rate for the aggregates.
Geographical information
Euro area (EA20): Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland.
European Union (EU27): Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Croatia, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Finland and Sweden.
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