Romania continues to have the highest proportion of young people who are not working and are not enrolled in any educational or vocational training program in the entire European Union.
The so-called „NEET” youth („Not in Employment, Education or Training”) represented approximately 19.2% of Romanians aged between 15 and 29 in 2025, according to data published by Eurostat on Thursday.
Across the European Union, the proportion of NEETs has decreased over the past decade, from 15.2% in 2015 to 11% in 2025.
Romania, clear leader in the EU
The lowest percentages of NEET youth in 2025 were recorded in the Netherlands (5.3%), Sweden (5.9%), and Slovenia (7.6%).
On the other end were Romania, with 19.2%, followed by Bulgaria (13.8%) and Greece (13.6%).
According to Eurostat data, the percentage of young people in the NEET category was nearly four times higher in Romania than in the Netherlands.
Although the situation has slightly improved over the past ten years, the reduction was modest in Romania's case: from 20.9% in 2015 to 19.2% in 2025.
Other countries have made significant progress
During the same period, 22 out of the 27 EU member states recorded decreases in the proportion of NEETs.
The most significant reductions were observed in Italy, where the percentage decreased by 12.4 percentage points, from 25.7% to 13.3%, in Greece, with a reduction of 10.5 percentage points, and in Croatia, where the decrease was nine percentage points.
However, there are also countries where the situation worsened. Germany, Luxembourg, and Austria saw increases in the proportion of NEET youth between 2015 and 2025.
Education makes a difference: Romania reaches nearly 36%
Eurostat data shows that the risk of being in the NEET category is much higher among young people with low levels of education.
At the European level, in 2025, the NEET proportion was 12.8% among those with low education, compared to 11% for those with medium education and 8% for those with higher education.
In Romania, the situation is even more severe: 35.8% of young people with low education were NEET in 2025, the highest percentage in the European Union.
Huge difference between women and men
Statistics also highlight a major difference between women and men.
At the EU level, 12% of young women aged 15 to 29 were NEET in 2025, compared to 9.9% of men.
The largest gender difference was recorded in Romania. According to Eurostat, 25% of young Romanian women were in the NEET category, compared to 13.8% of young men, a difference of 11.2 percentage points.
The second largest difference was observed in the Czech Republic, with 7.4 percentage points.