site.btaBulgaria Has EU's Second Largest Share of Young People Neither in Work or Education - Eurostat

In 2025, the share of young people aged 15 to 29 neither in employment nor in education or training (NEET) in the EU stood at 11.0%, down from 11.1% in 2024 and 15.2% in 2015, according to the latest figures released by the EU statistical office Eurostat on Thursday. This brings the EU closer to achieving its goal of reducing NEET rates among young people to 9% by 2030, as set out in the European Pillar of Social Rights.

The NEET rate among young people varied by age. Among the youngest (15-19 years), only 5.3% were NEET, while the rate more than doubled for those aged 20-24 (12.8%) and 25-29 (14.7%).

The lowest NEET rates for young people were registered in the Netherlands (5.3%), Sweden (5.9%) and Slovenia (7.6%). In contrast, the highest rates were in Romania (19.2%), Bulgaria (13.8%) and Greece (13.6%).

In 2024, the NEET rate in Bulgaria was 12.7% or 11.1 percentage points (pp) lower than in 2025, and the country then ranked sixth according to this indicator. Eurostat nevertheless reports a substantial reduction from 2015, when the rate for Bulgaria was 22.2%.

Between 2015 and 2025, the NEET rate decreased in 22 of 27 EU Member States. The largest drops were registered in Italy (12.4 pp, from 25.7% to 13.3%), Greece (10.5 pp, from 24.1% to 13.6%) and Croatia (9.0 pp, from 19.8% to 10.8%).