Non-EU migrants’ employment rate is below EU’s target of 75%

  • ECO News
  • 24 October 2018

In 2017, according to the Eurostat, the employment rate for non-EU citizens was below Europe 2020 targets. The lowest regional employment rate was found in France, Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands

According to the Eurostat, the employment rate for foreign citizens coming from outside the EU is way below that of the employment rate for citizens from the EU Member States and national citizens.

The report looks at the regional employment rate for non-EU citizens, considering that only 91% of all EU regions provided data for the study to be concluded.

Martinique, an overseas French region, had the lowest rate of any other region in the EU, with 20.8% of non-EU citizens employed in this island.

In contrast with that, the highest employment rate (92.3%) for non-EU citizens was found in the Highlands and Islands region, in the United Kingdom, and the second highest employment rate for non-EU citizens was as well witnessed in Great Britain, in the region of North Yorkshire (85.1%).

In the Highlands and Islands region in the UK, more than 9 out of 10 foreigners, aged 20-64, were employed.

“All of the statistics shown relate to the working-age population — defined here as people aged 20-64 years. This age group has been selected because it is relevant to one of the targets included within the Europe 2020 strategy, namely, that the EU-28 employment rate for persons aged 20-64 should be at least 75 % by 2020”, Eurostat explains.

As for the Portuguese regional labour market, many regions haven’t presented data on the employment rate of non-EU citizens.