Iceland: highest employment in Europe

Iceland enjoys the highest rate of employment in the 20-64 age group of all EU and EFTA countries, with 83.5% in work. This is according to a new study by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union (EU). 

The average for the EU plus Iceland, Norway and Switzerland is 78.7%.

Iceland is followed in this list by Switzerland (82.3%) and Sweden (80.0%). The lowest employment rate in this age group is to be found in Greece (53.3%).

Gender employment gap

Iceland places seventh in the 31-country group in terms of gender employment gap, i.e. the difference between the share of men in work and the share of women. In Iceland, 86.5% of men in the 20-64 age group, as compared to 80.5% of women – a gap of 6.0%. Only Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Finland, Norway and Sweden have narrower gaps. The biggest gender employment gap is in Malta (men: 80.3%; women: 51.9%).

Employment rates in the 55-64 age subgroup are remarkably high in Iceland. 83.6% of Icelanders in this upper age group are in employment, as compared to an EU average of just 52.1%.

Eurostat’s full press release on this topic can be found here.