On 1 January 2025, 58.3% of the EU population was of working age (people aged 20 to 64).
In 39 EU regions, classified at level 3 of the nomenclature of territorial units for statistics (NUTS), the share of the working-age population was at least 63.0%. These regions were mainly in Germany (22 regions), but also included island regions in Spain, as well as several capital regions and their surrounding areas.
At the upper end of the range, more than two thirds of the population were of working age in the Danish capital region of Byen København (68.9%) and in 3 island regions of Spain: Eivissa y Formentera (68.9%), Fuerteventura (68.3%) and Lanzarote (67.3%).
https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/documents/d/products-eurostat-news/ch01m2-no-ribbon
Source datasets: demo_r_pjanind3 and demo_pjanind
By contrast, in 189 NUTS level 3 regions in the EU, the working-age population accounted for less than 55.0% of the total population. These regions were mainly rural, including inland Portugal, large parts of rural France, most of eastern Germany and rural territories in Bulgaria, Greece and the Nordic EU countries. In 6 regions, the working-age population accounted for less than half of the total population: Bornholm in Denmark, Creuse and Lot in south-west France, Etelä-Savo in south-east Finland, Arr. Veurne in Belgium, and the French outermost region of Mayotte.
Would you like to know more about the population in EU regions?
You can explore the population sections in the Eurostat regional yearbook – 2026 edition and in the interactive publication Regions in Europe.
For more information
- Eurostat regional yearbook – population statistics at regional level
- Eurostat regional yearbook – 2026 edition
- My region – interactive data visualisation
- Statistical Atlas
- Thematic section on population and demography
- Thematic section on regions and cities
- Database on regions
Methodological note
This article is based on data from the Eurostat regional yearbook – 2026 edition. Some data may have been updated since publication.