Europese jeugd in beeld gebracht (en)

STAT/07/44

23 March 2007

24-25 March: Youth Summit in Rome

Young Europeans through statistics

What is the proportion of young people in the EU27 population? What share of young people have completed secondary education? In what fields do they graduate from tertiary education? Where is the youth unemployment rate highest? How does young peoples' use of the Internet differ from the total population?

In conjunction with the Youth Summit 1, which is being organised on 24-25 March 2007 by the European Commission and European Parliament, in collaboration with the Youth Forum Jeunesse, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Communities, publishes some statistical data on the situation of young people in the European Union.

Three of every ten people in the EU27 aged under 25

There were more than 78 million young people aged under 15 in the EU27 in 2006, and over 62 million people aged 15 to 24, corresponding to 15.9% and 12.7% respectively of the total population. The highest share of young people aged under 15 was recorded in Ireland (20.5%), followed by Denmark (18.7%) and Luxembourg (18.6%), while the lowest was observed in Bulgaria (13.6%), Germany, Italy (in 2005) and Slovenia (all 14.1%). Poland (16.2%), had the highest share of people aged 15-24, followed by Slovakia (15.9%) and Cyprus (15.8%), while Italy (10.4% in 2005), Denmark (11.2%) and Luxembourg (11.6%) had the lowest.

In the EU27, the share of young people aged up to 24 in the total population is expected to decrease from 28.6% in 2006 to 23.1% in 2050. This share is projected to fall in all Member States. In 2050, the highest proportions of young people are expected to be registered in Luxembourg (28.2%), Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden (all27.5%), and the lowest in Italy (19.6%), Bulgaria and Spain (both 19.7%).

Population aged below 15 and between 15 and 24

• * 

  Excluding overseas departments

** 2005 data for Italy

Three quarters of young people in the EU27 have completed at least upper secondary education

In the EU27 in 2005 more than three quarters of young people aged 20-24 had completed at least upper secondary education, compared to just under 70% of those aged 25-64. In four Member States - Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia - more than 90% of those aged 20-24 had completed upper secondary education, while in Portugal and Malta the share was around 50%.

Even though the unemployment rate 2 for 15-24 year olds in the EU27 has fallen over recent years (from 19.2% in January 2004 to 16.8% in January 2007) it is still more than twice that for the total population (7.5%). The unemployment rate of young people was three times higher than for the total population in Romania (23.4% and 7.5% respectively in January 2007) and Italy (20.1% and 6.7%), while the difference was less than two times in the Netherlands (6.9% and 3.6%), Germany (14.9% and 7.7%), Latvia (11.7% and 6.0%), Austria (8.8% and 4.5%), Denmark (6.5% and 3.3%) and Lithuania (12.4% and 6.3%).

The employment rate 3 of young people aged 15-24, which is naturally lower than for the total population since many young people are still in education and do not have a job, was 36.0% in the EU27 in the second quarter of 2006, compared with 64.3% for the population aged 15-64. The Member States with the highest youth employment rates were the Netherlands (66.2%), Denmark (63.7%), Austria (52.3%) and the United Kingdom (52.2%), while the lowest were observed in Hungary (21.2%), Bulgaria (23.0%), Poland (23.5%) and Lithuania (23.9%).

Education and Employment

• * 

  Data on employment rates refer to Q2 2005

** Percentage of the population of a certain age group having completed at least upper secondary education

*** United Kingdom: December 2006, Greece and Italy: Q3 2006

p Provisional

: Data not available

A fifth of tertiary students in the EU27 graduated in business and administration

In the EU27 in 2004, 20% of tertiary students graduated in business and administration, 14% in health & welfare, 13% in engineering, 11% each in education and in humanities & arts, 10% each in social science & journalism and in science, mathematics & computing, 6% in law, 4% in services and 2% in agriculture & veterinary. In more than half of the Member States business and administration produced the most graduates. In Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Sweden and the United Kingdom most students graduated in health & welfare; in Austria and Finland, it was engineering; in the Czech Republic and Portugal education; and in Greece science, mathematics & computing.

Tertiary education graduates by fields of education 4

In % of all students graduating in tertiary education, 2004

• * 

  Data exclude the German speaking community

** 2003 data

: Data not available

Almost three quarters of young people in the EU25 used the internet at least once a week

In the EU25 in 2006, 73% of persons aged 16-24 used the Internet on average at least once a week, compared with 47% for the total population. The Netherlands (96%), Denmark, Finland and Sweden (all 94%) had the highest shares of persons aged 16-24 using the Internet, while Malta (40%), Bulgaria and Greece (both 47%) had the lowest.

Looking at computer skills, the share of persons aged 16-24 years reporting high skills 5 was also higher than for the total population in all Member States, with an average in the EU25 in 2006 of 39% and 22% respectively. The Member States registering the largest shares of young people with high computer skills were Slovenia (65%), Luxembourg (61%), Denmark and Austria (both 58%).

The difference is less remarkable for buying on the Internet: 26% of the population aged 16-24 in the EU25 in 2006 had ordered goods or services over the Internet in the last 3 months, while the corresponding rate for the total population was 21%. Germany (48%) had the highest share of young people buying over the Internet, followed by Sweden (45%), Denmark and the United Kingdom (both 41%).

Internet use and computer skills, 2006

: Data not available

• 1. 

  http://europa.eu/50/across_europe/070324_en.htm
• 1. 

  Youth unemployment rate: The number of unemployed people aged 15 to 24 as a percentage of the labour force in the same age. The labour force (active population) is the total number of employed and unemployed people. Total unemployment rate: The number of unemployed people aged 15 to 74 as a percentage of the labour force.
• 2. 

  Youth employment rate: The number of employed persons aged 15-24 years as a percentage of the population of the same age. Total employment rate: The number of employed persons aged 15-64 years as a percentage of the population of the same age.
• 3. 

  Fields of education: Education: Teacher training and education science, Social and behavioural science, journalism and information: Social and behavioural science, psychology, sociology and cultural studies, political science and civics and economics, Services: personal services, transport services, environmental protection, security services. For further information, please see the classification " Classification of fields of education and training ".
• 4. 

  Computer skills surveyed included the ability to:

• - 

  copy or move a file or folder;

• - 

  use copy and paste tools to duplicate or move information within a document;

• - 

  use basic arithmetic formula (add, subtract, multiply, divide) in a spreadsheet;

• - 

  compress files;

• - 

  connect and install new devices, e.g. a printer or a modem

• - 

  write a computer program using a specialised programming language.

In the survey, persons who ticked 5 or all items were classed high level.