Analysis of unemployment rates in the Basque Country and in Europe reveals some relevant figures, both in the overall unemployment rate and among young people.
Taking the figures for 2023, the overall unemployment rate in the Basque Country was around 8.1%, above the EU27 average (6.1%) and, taking into account all the regions, this places the Basque Country among the relatively higher unemployment rates. Leaving aside Ceuta (30%) and Melilla (26.6%), we have the following regions, with unemployment rates of 17-19%: Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, Île de France including Paris, the Van region of Turkey, Andalusia and Extremadura in Spain and the Campania region in Italy. In percentage terms, the Basque Country is further from them than from those with the lowest unemployment rates, but has more comarcas (counties) with lower rates than with higher ones. The lowest unemployment rates are found in Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany: central Moravia, Trier, Pock, West Warsaw and Southwest.
By states, Bosnia-Herzegovina (13.2%), Spain (12.2%) and Greece (11.1%) are the countries with the highest unemployment. Poland (2.8%), the Czech Republic (2.6%), Germany (3.1%) and Iceland (3.5%) have very low unemployment rates. The Basque Country is therefore closer to the countries with high unemployment rates than to the countries with low unemployment rates, in this case in terms of both percentages and position.
In the Basque Country, the youth unemployment rate in 2023 (15-24 years old) stood at 23.6%, which is quite high in comparison with other countries in the European Union. The highest youth unemployment rates are found in the following regions of Spain, Greece, Italy and France, where they are over 40%: the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, Western Macedonia, Calabria, Epirus, Sicily, Campania and Guadeloupe. At the opposite end of the scale are those of the Czech Republic, Germany and the Netherlands: Southwest Czechia, Overijssel, Stuttgart, Zeeland, Eastern Switzerland, Central Switzerland and the central province of the Czech Republic, all below 6%. By states, the order is almost the same: with the highest youth unemployment, over 25%, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Spain, Greece and Serbia (followed by the Basque Country), and with the lowest, under 9%, Iceland, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany
Analysis of the different trends and variable in the Basque Country from 1999 to 2023, the overall unemployment rate fell from 12.6% to 8.1%. The highest unemployment rates were recorded in 2012 and 2013, at 15.2% and 16.2% respectively. In 2020, during the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the overall unemployment rate rose in 2021 to 10.1%, but then began to fall.
The age bracket from 15 to 24 years old has always had the highest unemployment rate, at 26.6% in 1999. Though it fell to 23.6% in 2023, the rate remains high in relation to the figures in Europe.
In 2012, the age group between 55 and 64 years old recorded 9.8%, the highest level in this series, falling to 8.0% in 2023, standing at a mid-point in the whole series.
The overall women’s unemployment rate fell from 19.4% in 1999 to 8.9% in 2023. There was a significant fall in the overall women’s unemployment rate, especially in 2013, reaching 16.3%. The men’s unemployment rate fell from 8.1% in 1999 to 7.5% in 2023, with many fluctuations in between; the worst figure in recent times was 16.1% in 2013.
Comparison of the unemployment rates for men and women shows that the differences between them shrank considerably in the first decade of the century, from over 11 points in 1999 it fell to a single point in 2009. After this, due to the financial crisis and COVID, the figures rose and fell, but the difference between the two did not exceed 2.3 points, and on occasion the women’s unemployment rate was actually lower.