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Last year, almost one fifth of young Romanian people were neither in employment nor in education or training (NEET), according to data compiled and published by Eurostat. It is the largest proportion among all EU member states, well above the European average, and the situation has improved very little over the last ten years, in contrast to the progress recorded in neighbouring countries.

A comparison between the two EU member states with the highest and lowest NEET rates in 2025 reveals that the proportion of young adults who were NEETs was 3.6 times higher in Romania than in the Netherlands.

- In 2022, 11% of 15-29-year-olds in the EU were neither in employment nor in education and training.

- The proportion of 15-29-year-olds in the EU who were neither in employment nor in education and training in 2025 ranged from 5.3% in the Netherlands to 19.2% in Romania.

Young people are changing jobs more frequently, and it takes longer to become established in the labour market. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the transition from education to work is smooth and to highlight the risks of being neither in employment nor in education or training. There are risks, both for the individual and, in the long run, for society, if young adults find themselves disengaged from both education and the labour market.

In 2025, the share of young people aged 15 to 29 who were neither in employment nor in education or training (NEET) in the EU stood at 11.0%, down from 11.1% in 2024 and 15.2% in 2015. This brings the EU closer to achieving its goal of reducing NEET rates among young people to 9% by 2030, as set out in the European Pillar of Social Rights.

The NEET rate among young people varied by age. Among the youngest (15-19 years), only 5.3% were NEET, while the rate more than doubled for those aged 20-24 (12.8%) and 25-29 (14.7%).

The lowest NEET rates for young people were registered in the Netherlands (5.3%), Sweden (5.9%), and Slovenia (7.6%). In contrast, the highest rates were recorded in Romania (19.2%), Bulgaria (13.8%), and Greece (13.6%).

Between 2015 and 2025, the NEET rate decreased in 22 of the 27 EU countries. By far the largest reductions in NEET rates (in percentage-point terms) between 2015 and 2025 were recorded in Italy (-12.4 pp) and Greece (-10.5 pp). Meanwhile, Romania registered a reduction of only 1.7 pp.

There were also three countries that recorded increases in their NEET rates since 2015: Germany (+1.0 pp), Luxembourg (+1.2 pp), and Austria (+1.6 pp). Denmark and Lithuania recorded almost the same NEET rates in both years.

While background information is provided for those aged 15-34, the main age group studied consists of young adults aged 15-29. The NEET rate for young people aged 15-29 years in the EU was 12.8% among those with a low level of education, compared with 11.0% among those with a medium level of education and 8.0% among those with a high level of education (see Figure 2).

NEET rates in the EU countries for people aged 15-29 years with a low level of education ranged from 6.1% in Sweden and Poland to 35.8% in Romania in 2025. Looking more closely at these figures, 10 countries had higher NEET rates than the EU average: Estonia (12.9%), Lithuania (13.4%), Germany (13.7%), Slovakia and France (both 14.1%), Malta and Austria (both 14.7%), Spain (15.3%), Bulgaria (19.7%), and Romania (35.8%). Therefore, we have a very serious problem with poorly educated young people who are outside the labour market.

It is worth noting that, in 2015, Bulgaria had a higher NEET rate than Romania (22.2% compared with 20.9%), but it has now fallen to just 13.8%. Hungary, which had a lower NEET rate, managed to reduce it by 4.5 percentage points in just ten years, bringing it below the EU average. This means that similar progress could have been achieved in Romania as well, but appropriate measures were not implemented.

In 2025, there were two countries where the proportion of young female NEETs was at least 7 percentage points higher than the corresponding share for young men. The largest difference was found in Romania (11.2 pp), followed by Czechia (7.4 pp). However, three countries had higher NEET rates for men than for women, although to a much lesser extent: Estonia, Finland, and Belgium. Of these, Estonia had the largest difference, with the share for men being 1.9 pp higher than for women.

In 2025, the NEET rate for young people aged 15-19 years was at least 0.5 pp lower for women than for men in all EU countries except Romania, Malta, Estonia, and Sweden.

Among people aged 20-24 years, Austria showed almost no difference between the sexes, while Romania reported the largest difference; here, the NEET rate for women was 10.2 percentage points higher than the corresponding rate for men.

The EU gender gap for NEETs increased with age, and this is particularly evident in the oldest age group, those aged 25-29 years. For this group, the NEET rate was consistently higher for women than for men in all EU countries except Estonia, where the share for men was 2.5 pp higher than for women, and Portugal, where the shares were roughly the same. The difference in favour of women ranged from 0.6 pp in Finland to 20.9 pp in Romania (!).

It should be noted that, outside the labour force in Romania, the percentage for young men (7.2%, only 2 percentage points above the EU average) was considerably lower than for women (20.5%, which is 12.2 percentage points above the EU average and far above the next-ranked countries, Bulgaria at 14.2% and Italy at 10.6%). At the same time, it is worth noting that there are very large disparities within Romania between cities (7.2%), towns and suburbs (20.6%), and rural areas (27.7%).

So, we know that Romania ranks last in the EU in this respect and where the main problems are concentrated. The resources should be available, given that the standard of living has increased alongside GDP per capita. Solutions must follow, but it seems that we lack the determination and interest needed to prepare the younger generation for work.

Photo source: PxHere.com.