Eurostat: Holidays prohibited for nearly a third of Europeans by 2025

Nearly one in three Europeans will be unable to take a vacation in 2025. According to Eurostat, the European Union’s statistical office, 27.5% of EU citizens have had to forgo their vacations.

27.5% of EU citizens have forgo their vacations.

This percentage increased by 0.5 percentage points compared to 2024, but is significantly lower (by 7.7 percentage points) than ten years ago, in 2015.

EU Member States

The highest percentages of people unable to afford a week’s vacation per year were recorded in Romania (61.4%), Greece (46.6%), Bulgaria and Hungary (both 39.1%), and Italy (35.7%). The percentages dropped to 10.6% in Luxembourg, 12.4% in Sweden, and 12.8% in the Netherlands.

Unemployment at 6% in the euro area

In June 2026, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in the euro area stood at 6.3%, stable compared to May 2026 and June 2025. The EU unemployment rate in June 2026 was 6.0%, also stable compared to May 2026 and June 2025. These data are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Eurostat estimates that in June 2026, there were 13.317 million unemployed in the EU, of whom 11.130 million were in the euro area. Compared to May 2026, unemployment increased by 79,000 in the EU and by 71,000 in the euro area. Compared to June 2025, unemployment increased by 112,000 in the EU and by 43,000 in the euro area.

Youth unemployment is rising

Youth unemployment is rising. In June 2026, 2.987 million young people under 25 were unemployed in the EU, of whom 2.351 million were in the euro area. In June 2026, the youth unemployment rate was 15.5% in the EU, up from 15.4% in the previous month, and 14.8% in the euro area, down from 14.9% in May 2026.

Compared to May 2026, youth unemployment increased by 29,000 in the EU, while remaining unchanged in the euro area. Compared to June 2025, youth unemployment increased by 53,000 in the EU and decreased by 8,000 in the euro area.

Unemployment rate by gender

The female unemployment rate decreased slightly, standing at 6.1%, down from 6.2% in May 2026, while the male unemployment rate rose to 5.9%, up from 5.8% the previous month. In the euro area, the female unemployment rate remained stable.

GDP increases by 0.4% in the euro area

In the second quarter of 2026, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 0.4% in the euro area and by 0.5% in the EU, compared with the previous quarter, according to a preliminary estimate published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. In the first quarter of 2026, GDP

Growth in EU countries

Compared to the same quarter of the previous year, seasonally adjusted GDP increased by 1.0% in the euro area and 1.2% in the EU in the second quarter of 2026, following increases of 0.5% in the euro area and 0.8% in the EU in the previous quarter.

Among the Member States for which data are available for the second quarter of 2026, Ireland (+3.9%) recorded the largest increase compared to the previous quarter, followed by Lithuania (+1.7%) and Sweden (+1.4%). The lowest growth rates were recorded in Belgium and Austria (both 0.0%). The annual growth rate was positive for fourteen countries and negative for one country.