Employment of non-EU citizens highest in Czech Republic and Slovakia

Bratislava, Slovakia – According to Eurostat, the highest employment rates for non-EU nationals were recorded in the Czech Republic (84%) and Slovakia (81%).

Czech Republic and Slovakia have highest employment rate for non-EU nationals

Quite interestingly, both Central European countries were also in 2018 the only EU member states (along with Romania, whose data is flagged as unreliable by Eurostat) where the non-EU migrant population had a higher employment rate than both the native-born population (80% in Czechia and 72% in Slovakia) and citizens from other EU member states (79% in Czechia and 72% in Slovakia).

The situation is slightly different in other Central European countries. In Hungary, the employment rate of EU citizens (76%) is slightly higher than the native-born population (74.5%) and several points above the employment rate of non-EU nationals (68%). Meanwhile, recent data also showed that the Hungarian government has delivered a record number of residence permits to non-EU citizens, increasing by more than 110% in one single year mainly for Ukrainians, Russians and Chinese.

In Poland, the employment rate of the native-born population was the lowest (72%) compared to non-EU citizens (77%) and EU nationals (78%).

Non-EU nationals account for 1% of population in Central Europe

According to the EU’s statistical office, more than 600.000 non-EU citizens are officially registered as living in the Visegrad Group countries (half of which in the Czech Republic alone), thus accounting for roughly 1% of the population in Central Europe.

In several countries, including Slovakia and the Czech Republic, people from outside the bloc outnumber EU citizens established in the country.

Non-EU citizens account for 1% of Central Europe’s population

Sweden boasts highest employment rate for native-born population

Other high employment rates for non-EU migrants were found in Malta (80%), Romania (78%), Poland (77%) and Portugal (76%). Belgium, meanwhile, had the lowest employment rate for people born outside the EU (54%).

The highest employment rates for the native-born population were found in Sweden (87%), Germany and the Netherlands (82%), Estonia (81%) and Denmark (80%).

Finally, the highest employment rates for migrants from other EU member states were registered in the U.K. (86%), followed by Portugal (84%), Sweden (83%), Malta (81%) and Germany (80%).