Over a quarter of young students in the EU worked in 2024

Over a quarter of young EU European Union citizens worked and studied at the same time in 2024, according to a study by the EU's statistical office, Eurostat.

An analysis published on 19/01/2026 showed that 25.4% of young Europeans aged 15-29 were employed while enrolled in formal education in 2024. During this period, 71.4% remained outside the labour force, while 3.2% were unemployed (i.e. they were available for and actively seeking employment).

The highest shares of young EU citizens seeking employment while in formal education were recorded in Sweden, Finland and Denmark. At the same time, Denmark is also one of the countries where the highest shares of young people working and studying simultaneously have been observed.

The Netherlands has the highest shares of young working students (74.3%).

At the other end of the scale, Romania, Greece and Croatia reported the lowest shares of working students among EU countries. Romania, together with Croatia, Czechia and Hungary, had less than 1% of young people seeking employment.

Eurostat also provides data for Iceland, Switzerland and Norway. All three countries have a significant number of working students, especially Iceland, with 72.8%.