In Croatia, the employment rate for people aged 20 to 64 increased to 61.4% in 2016 from 60.6% in 2015. Croatia thus drew closer to the target of 62.9% it had set itself in line with the Europe 2020 strategy.
The employment rate for men in Croatia increased by 0.8 percentage points to 66.2% and for women by 0.7 percentage points to 56.6%.
Croatia, however, remained among the member states with the lowest employment rates, alongside Greece (56.2%), Italy (61.6%) and Spain (63.9%)
The employment rate for the age group 20 to 64 increased in all member states except Luxembourg where it remained nearly stable. The highest increases were recorded in Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Spain, Lithuania and Malta.
Employment rates above 75% were recorded in Sweden, Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Estonia and Lithuania. Among these countries, the Czech Republic, Germany, Estonia, Lithuania and Sweden have already met or exceeded their 2020 national targets, as have Ireland and Latvia. Malta is only 0.4 percentage points from reaching its target.
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.
In 2016, the employment rate of the population aged 20 to 64 in the EU stood at 71.1%, up compared with both 2015 (70.1%) and its previous peak recorded in 2008 (70.3%).
The employment rate for men hit 76.9% in 2016, an increase compared with 2015 (75.9%) but still below its 2008 level (77.8%). As for women, their employment rate has continuously risen since 2010 to reach 65.3% in 2016.
The employment rate for people aged 55 to 64 rose in all member states except Croatia. In Croatia, the rate for this age group decreased to 38.1% from 39.2% in 2015.
Croatia had one of the lowest employment rates in this age group too, along with Greece (36.3%), Slovenia (38.5%) and Luxembourg (39.6%).
In the age group 55 to 64, the highest employment rates were registered in Sweden (75.5%), Germany (68.6%), Denmark (67.8%), Estonia (65.2%), Lithuania (64.6%), the Netherlands (63.5%) and the United Kingdom (63.4%).
At the EU level, the employment rate for this age group reached 55.3% from 53.3% in 2015, growing steadily since 2002 when it stood at 38.4%.