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Eurostat · Italy and EU-27, since 2009, every quarter

How many people are employed in Italy?

In the second quarter of 2026, 63.2% of people aged 15 to 64 were employed in Italy; in the EU-27, 71.2%.

Eurostat, labour force survey. The employment rate is the share of people aged 15 to 64 who are in work (who counts as employed). Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4 are the quarters of the year: Q1 runs from January to March.

Question 1 of 4

People aged 15 to 64 in work in Italy, Q2 202663.2%In the EU-27, 71.2%: 8.0 percentage points higher.
  1. Italy63.2%
  2. EU-2771.2%

Employed per 100 people of the same age

The full row is everyone aged 15 to 64: the bars run from 0 to 100%. Same quarter and same ages for both; the gap in points is a portal calculation.

Details, method and source

Eurostat, lfsi_emp_q: employment rate (EMP_LFS) of people aged 15 to 64, as a percentage of the population of the same age (PC_POP), seasonally adjusted. Employed means having worked at least one hour in the survey week, or having a job one was only absent from. The portal takes the latest quarter in which every series on the page has a value; the difference between the two rates is in percentage points, not in percent. EU-27 means today’s 27 member states, also for the years when the Union had fewer.

Eurostat, lfsi_emp_q ↗

  1. Question 2 of 4

    Has it always been this way?

    Employment rate in Italy, from Q1 2009 to Q2 2026+5.8 pointsFrom Q1 2009 to Q2 2026 the Italian rate went from 57.4% to 63.2%. EU-27 minus Italy: 5.9 points in Q1 2009, 8.0 points in Q2 2026.

    Employment rate, ages 15 to 64

    Gap: EU-27 minus Italy

    Eurostat rates adjusted for seasonal effects. Changes and gaps in percentage points: portal calculations. In Q1 2018 the Italian series has a break flagged by Eurostat: the line stops there and the value stays.

    The values, quarter by quarter
    Details, method and source

    Same Eurostat series (lfsi_emp_q, EMP_LFS, seasonally adjusted, ages 15-64, PC_POP), for Italy and the EU-27 from the first quarter both have. The change is the difference between two rates, in percentage points: it is not a percentage growth of the rate. The gap is the EU-27 rate minus the Italian one, quarter by quarter: portal calculation. Eurostat flags a break in series with «b», a change in the way the survey is run: the chart breaks the line in that quarter and the value stays, in the table with its flag.

    Eurostat, lfsi_emp_q ↗

  2. Question 3 of 4

    Where is the gap concentrated?

    Women, Q2 2026: Italy below the EU-27 by12.5 pointsMen: Italy below the EU-27 by 3.7 points. Each group is compared with the EU-27 figure for the same sex.
    1. Women, Italy54.5%
    2. Women, EU-2767.0%
    3. Men, Italy71.7%
    4. Men, EU-2775.4%

    Employed per 100 people of the same age

    Women

    Men

    Each rate is over people of the same sex aged 15 to 64 (Eurostat); the gaps in points are portal calculations. Both charts share the same scale.

    The values, quarter by quarter
    Details, method and source

    Eurostat, lfsi_emp_q: employment rate (EMP_LFS) of women and of men aged 15 to 64, each as a percentage of the population of the same sex and age (PC_POP), seasonally adjusted. Italian women are compared with EU-27 women and men with men, in the same quarter. The 2018 break in series also applies to these two Italian series.

    Eurostat, lfsi_emp_q ↗

  3. Question 4 of 4

    And who is not employed?

    Out of 100 people aged 15 to 64 in Italy, Q2 2026, not in work36.83.9 are unemployed and 32.9 are outside the labour force (inactive); the other 63.2 are in work.
    1. All people aged 15 to 64100
    2. Employed63.2
    3. Unemployed3.9
    4. Inactive32.9

    People per 100 aged 15 to 64

    This share of unemployed people is calculated over everyone aged 15 to 64. The unemployment rate uses only the labour force: employed plus unemployed people.

    Employed: Eurostat rate. Unemployed and inactive: portal calculations on the Eurostat rates for the same quarter, on the same base of 100 people.

    Details, method and source

    Eurostat, lfsi_emp_q, people aged 15 to 64, as a percentage of the population of the same age (PC_POP), seasonally adjusted: employed (EMP_LFS) and labour force (ACT), that is employed plus unemployed people. The portal computes unemployed = labour force minus employed, inactive = 100 minus labour force. The three shares add up to 100. Unemployed people are not in work, actively seek work and are available to start within two weeks; people who have already found a job starting within three months and are available also count. Inactive people are neither employed nor unemployed: they may be seeking work but unavailable to start. The table sets the EU-27 alongside, in the same quarter.

    Eurostat, lfsi_emp_q ↗

Continue: whether Italy’s economy grows as fast as the rest of Europe →