According to Eurostat article published on March 20, 2023, in the fourth quarter of 2022, the job vacancy rate was 3.1% in the euro area, stable from the previous quarter and up from 2.8% in the fourth quarter of 2021, according to figures published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. The job vacancy rate in the EU was 2.8% in the fourth quarter of 2022, down from 2.9% in the previous quarter and up from 2.6% in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Member States
Among the Member States for which comparable data are available (see country notes), the highest job vacancy rates in the fourth quarter of 2022 were recorded in Austria (4.6%), Belgium and the Netherlands (4.5% in both of them). By contrast, the lowest rates were observed in Romania and Bulgaria (0.8% in both of them), Poland, Greece and Spain (0.9% in all of them).
Compared with the same quarter of the previous year, the job vacancy rate increased in twelve Member States, remained stable in Estonia, France, Hungary as well as Slovenia and decreased in eleven Member States. The largest increases were observed in Austria (+0.6 pp), Germany and Portugal (both +0.5 pp). The largest decreases were recorded in Czechia (-0.7 pp), Cyprus, Latvia and Finland (-0.5 pp in all of them).
Geographical information
Up to 31 December 2022, the euro area (EA19) included Belgium, Germany, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia and Finland. From 1 January 2023 the euro area (EA20) also includes Croatia. The aggregate data series commented on in this release refers to EA19.
The European Union (EU27) includes 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.
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.
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, only business units with 10 employees or more are surveyed. Moreover, in the case of public administration, education and human health (NACE Rev. 2 sections O, P and Q), public institutions are not covered in France and Italy.
Revisions and timetable
Compared with the rates published in News Release 138/2022 of 15 December 2022, the job vacancy rate for the third quarter of 2022 remained unchanged in the euro area and the EU.
Eurostat Press Office
Veronika LANG Tel: +352-4301-33 408 eurostat-pressoffice@ec.europa.eu
Production of data:
Javier ALCANTARA ORTEGA Tel: +352-4301-35 183 javier.alcantara@ec.europa.eu
Thibaut HENRION Tel: +352-4301-31 686 thibaut.henrion@ec.europa.eu
