The employment of young people has shrunk throughout 2023, even though the labor market as a whole has shown positive changes. 

It seems that young people are encountering difficulties in their integration at work at a time when the country's population is decreasing due to the births and immigration of young people. "Scan Intel" has analyzed data from INSTAT and EUROSTAT to create an overview of the labor market for young people in Europe.

The average employment rate in Europe for the 15-29 age group is recorded at 49.7%, referring to the last quarter of the year we left behind. Albania is below the European average with an employment rate of 43.1% in the fourth quarter of 2023. 

Although below average, the figures show that Albania has a higher youth employment rate compared to Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, countries that are part of official data from the European Statistics Agency. 

Serbia registers this indicator at 39.2%, while Bosnia and Herzegovina, which ranks last, calculates the employment rate for young people at 34.1%. Albania ranks better than some European countries such as Slovakia, Spain, Bulgaria, Italy, Greece, and Romania. The Netherlands and Iceland are the two countries with the highest rate of 80% and 74.3%.

According to the data, Albania is positioned among the countries that have recorded a decrease in the employment rate for young people, by 1.5 points. Serbia has also recorded a decrease in the employment rate for the 15-29 age group. The average of the European Union shows an increase of 0.4 points, while the country with the highest decline in employment in the last quarter of the year Albania left behind Estonia. On the other hand, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkey had the highest growth.

Based on INSTAT data, there are changes in the employment rate between different age groups. The employment rate for the age group of 15 years and older is recorded at 57.1% in the fourth quarter of 2023, while for the age group of 30-64 years, this indicator is 77.5%.