site.btaEurostat: Nearly Third of Bulgarians Aged 15-64 Were Economically Inactive in 2016

Sofia, July 6 (BTA) - Nearly 31 per cent of Bulgarians aged 15-64 were economically inactive in 2016, according to Eurostat data, released on Wednesday. Figures suggest that 27 per cent of the EU population were outside the labour market in 2016.

Home data confirm that economically inactive Bulgarians aged 15-64 totalled 1.5 million in 2016.

Of these 164,000 were permanently discouraged. At 70 per cent, people with secondary education accounted for the largest portion, followed by people with primary education at 61 per cent.

The largest number of economically inactive people was recorded in the 15-24 age group, at over 500,000. Nearly 224,000 persons aged 25-34 were economically inactive, 155,000 persons aged 35-44, and 160,000 aged 45-54. In the most economically active age group, 55-64, over 400,000 Bulgarians were unemployed.

In Bulgaria, 641,000 men and over 800,000 women aged 15-64 were unemployed.

Nearly 90 million people aged 15 to 64 were economically inactive in the European Union. The level of education seemed to play a role, as the proportion of inactive people in the EU fell as educational levels rose among them. While almost half (47 per cent) of those aged 15-64 with a low education level (at most lower secondary education) were inactive in 2016, this share decreased to 24 per cent for those with a medium education level and fell to 12 per cent when it came to the part of the population with a high education level (tertiary education).

Across the EU Member States, Italy (35.1 per cent) recorded the highest proportion of persons outside the labour market. It was followed by Croatia and Romania (both 34.4 per cent), Belgium (32.4 per cent) and Greece (31.8 per cent).

At the opposite end of the scale, the lowest share was registered in Sweden (17.9 per cent), ahead of Denmark (20.0 per cent) and the Netherlands (20.3 per cent). It should be noted that the proportion of economically inactive people was higher among women than men in every EU Member State, although the proportions differed from state to state.

In total, almost 8 in 10 inactive people (78 per cent) declared that they did not wish to work.