Malta: Unemployment rate below EU average

Malta registered the fourth-lowest unemployment rate in the EU in January 2021.Figures by Eurostat show that the total unemployment rate in Malta stood at 4.4 percent in the first month of 2021, below the EU27 average of 7.3 percent.

Poland registered the lowest rate, at 3.1 percent, followed by Czechia (3.1%) and the Netherlands (3.6%).

The highest total unemployment rate was registered in Poland, at 16.0 percent. Lithuania and Sweden recorded the next highest rates at 9.6 percent and 8.8 percent, respectively. France and Latvia are the other two members states to experience a rate above the European average.

The data shows over 15.6 million people in unemployment across the EU up from 14.2 million in January 2020. In the euro area, registered unemployed rose by nearly a million over the year to reach 13.3 million, equivalent to a rate of 8.1 percent.

In Malta, there were 12,000 unemployed in January, a rise from 10,000 from the same month last year, but level with the final three months of 2020.