Within the framework of the activity rate, the employment rate shows similar trends. According to figures from 2023, the Basque Country has a high employment rate, at 75.7% of the population between 15 and 64 years old, exceeding the EU27 average (75.0%). The average employment rate across the 27 European Union member states has been rising since 2002, though the Basque Country has always recorded a higher employment rate. In 2005, both were around 71%, and since then the Basque Country has pulled ahead. The female employment rate also stands at 72.3%, above the European Union average (70.2%).
Compared with Northern European countries, employment rates in the Basque Country are lower; Iceland (86.9%), the Netherlands (85.5%) and Switzerland (84.1%) have the highest employment rates. Moreover, participation by women in these countries is significant, and even through the women’s employment rate in the Basque Country is 72.3%, comparable to the European average, it is about ten points lower than the average in these countries.
In comparison with the countries of the south and east of Europe, employment data in the Basque Country are very different, especially in the area of women’s employment.
In the Basque Country in 2002, the difference between the employment rates of women and men was obvious; men had a rate of 78.8% and women of 56.4%, a difference of nearly 22 points. Over the years this difference has shrunk. Nevertheless, in 2023 the difference between the employment rates of men and women is till 6.9 points.
The employment rate among young people from 15 to 24 years old in the Basque Country stood at 32.9% in 2023, though this sector has fluctuated a lot in recent years. In the crisis of 2008 the rate was 40.6%, but in the last decade it has fallen significantly, reaching 26.6% in 2020.
The employment rate for the group from 55 to 64 years old has risen considerably in the Basque Country, from 39.7% in 2002 to 69.4% in 2023.