Employment grew in 9 out of 10 EU regions in 2018 (Last figures by Eurostat)
In 2018, 208 of the 240 EU regions (87%) saw their employment grow, while in 5 regions the number of persons employed remained stable and in a further 27 regions employment decreased.
Growth in employment varied widely across the EU regions and within countries. The highest employment growth rate was recorded in Malta (+5.7%), ahead of Adriatic Croatia in Croatia (+4.9%), Southern in Ireland (+4.7%), Marche in Italy (+4.6%), French Guiana in France (+4.5%), followed by Cyprus and Pest in Hungary (both +4.1%) as well as Northern & Western in Ireland (+4.0%).
At the opposite end of the scale, the biggest decrease in employment was registered in Mayotte in France (-2.9%), followed by North-Central (-2.1%) and South-Central (-2.0%) in Bulgaria as well as Świętokrzyskie in Poland (2.0%). In the EU as a whole, employment grew by 1.4% in 2018.
These data on regional employment, compiled on the basis of the national accounts, have been published by Eurostat (5 March 2020), the statistical office of the European Union.
Largest employment growth in Malta
In 21 EU regions, the employment growth exceeded 3%. Three of these regions were located in Italy, two each in Czechia, Ireland, Spain, Poland and Slovenia and one each in France, Croatia, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Hungary, Malta, Portugal and Finland.
In 27 EU regions, the number of employed people decreased in 2018. In seven of these regions, the number of employed fell by more than 1%. Three of these regions were located in Poland, two each in Bulgaria and France.
Employment grew in 6 out of 10 EU regions over the last decade
Over the last decade, 148 of the 238 EU regions (62%) with available data saw their employment grow compared with 2008. In over a third of EU regions (37%), the number of persons employed decreased compared with 2008 and in a further one region employment remained stable.
Growth in employment varied widely across the EU regions and within countries. The highest employment growth rate was recorded in Malta (+46.0%), ahead of Luxembourg (+28.4%), Pomorskie (+26.6%), Zachodniopomorskie (+24.6%) and Wielkopolskie (+23.6%) in Poland, Mayotte in France (+22.8%), Berlin in Germany (+22.5%), French Guiana in France (+21.9%), followed by North Great Plain (+19.2%) in Hungary, Kujawsko-Pomorskie (+18.6%) in Poland, Stockholm in Sweden (+18.5%), and Pest (+18.4%) in Hungary as well as Upper Bavaria in Germany (+18.0%).
In contrast, the largest decreases in employment over the last decade were registered in North-West (-20.2%) and North-Central (-18.0%) in Bulgaria, followed by Western Greece in Greece (-17.3%), South-Muntenia in Romania (-15.6%), West Macedonia and Epirus (both -15.3%) and Central Macedonia (-15.0%) in Greece, Łódzkie (-15.0%) in Poland as well as Latvia (-14.7%).
In the EU as a whole, employment grew by 2.6% over the last decade.
