Malta 0.4 percentage points short of 2020 employment target

Malta is only 0.4 percentage points away from reaching its 2020 national employment rate target of 70%, according to Eurostat data

Malta was among six EU member states to experience in 2016 strong growth in their employment rates for those aged 20 to 64
Malta was among six EU member states to experience in 2016 strong growth in their employment rates for those aged 20 to 64

Malta is only 0.4 percentage points away from reaching its 2020 national target for employment rates, Eurostat data has shown.

The Europe 2020 strategy target is to reach a total employment rate for people aged 20 to 64 of at least 75% in the EU by 2020. While Malta's national target stands at 70%, as of 2016, the country's actual employment rate stood at 69.6%.

Employment rates above 75% were recorded in Sweden (81.2%), Germany (78.7%), the United Kingdom (77.6%), Denmark (77.4%), the Netherlands (77.1%), Czech Republic (76.7%), Estonia (76.6%) and Lithuania (75.2%).

When compared with 2015, Malta was among six EU member states to experience in 2016 strong growth in their employment rates for those aged 20 to 64, along with Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Spain and Lithuania. An increase was observed all member states except Luxembourg where it remained nearly stable.

The Eurostat data also showed that Malta registered the widest gender employment gap for those aged 20-64 from all member states, with a difference of -27.6 percentage points (55.5% for women versus 83.1% for men).

Big gaps were also recorded in Italy (-20.1 percentage points), Greece (-19 percentage points), Romania (-17.6 percentage points) and the Czech Republic (-16.0 percentage points). On the other end of the spectrum, the gap was lowest in Lithuania (74.3% for women versus 76.2% for men, or -1.9 percentage points), Latvia (-2.9 percentage points), Finland (-3.3 percentage points) and Sweden (-3.8 percentage points).

From 2002 onwards, the employment rate of people aged 55-64 in the EU has grown steadily to reach 55.3% in 2016, compared with 38.4% in 2002. The growth was stronger for women, who registered a increase from 29.1% in 2002 to 48.9% in 2016, than for men, who marked an increase from 48.2% in 2002 to 62% in 2016). As a consequence, the gap between the employment rate of women and men aged 55-64 in the EU has been reduced, from a 19.1 percentage points difference in 2002 to a 13.1 percentage points difference in 2016.