Activity rate from 15 to 64 years old:
The activity rate in the Basque Country was 75.7% in 2023, while the average for the 27 European Union member states was 75%. The regions of Germany have high rates of participation in the labour market, all over 81.0%. However, in several European countries, regions of Turkey, for example, have low rates of participation in the labour market, at around 62.0%.
According to 2023 figures, among all the European regions, the ones with the highest rates of participation in the labour market are in Switzerland and the Netherlands, with values over 80%. For example, Lucerne, Basel and Berne in Switzerland and North Holland, Utrecht and Gelderland in the Netherlands.
At the lower end are the Turkish regions (Marmara, Cilicia, Sakarya, Kocaeli, Düzce, Bolu and Zonguldak) at between 52% and 45%, and Guadeloupe in France, at 51%.
The Basque Country is in between
The rate of women participating in the labour force, at 72.3% in the Basque Country, is higher than the European average (70.2%).
It should be pointed out that the proportion of women in work is lower than the overall rate throughout Europe. There is only one region where more women work: Kymenlaakso in Finland. On the other hand, the following regions have similar rates: Southern France, Bratislava in Slovakia, Uusimaa in Finland and Vilna in Lituania. The above-mentioned pattern is repeated in the rest. In the case of the Basque Country, the difference is 3.4 points, so there are 88 regions with a smaller difference in the two rates, and 190 with a bigger one.
Moving to state level, Denmark, Switzerland and Iceland have higher overall rates of participation in the labour force, over 80%, as well as higher female participation. Iceland has the highest rate of women in work, at 83.9%.
Turkey and Bosnia-Herzegovina, however, have low rates of participation in the labour force, both overall (59.5% and 59.8% respectively) and among women in particular (40.8% and 47%).
The Basque Country is in between on both indicators.
The general activity rate has risen in the last twenty years in comparison with the average across the 27 EU member states. In 2002 participation in the labour force in the Basque Country stood at 67.7%, and by 2023 had reached 75.7%. Despite the increase from 67.7% to 75.0% across the European Union, the Basque Country has exceeded the European average, and at the same time is achieving greater equality between women and men. The rate of female participation in the labour force has risen from 52.7% to 72.3%, while that for men has gone from 77.1% to 79.2%. The Basque Country has therefore managed to reduce gender inequality, but the difference between men and women is still significant.
With regard to demographic variables, participation by young people from 15 to 24 years old in the labour force fell from 36.8% to 32.9%, making clear the serious difficulties they face in entering the workforce, or a delay in entering it. On the other hand, the rate of people from 55 to 64 years old in work rose from 34.9% to 69.4%, indicating a significant increase in participation.