- EU immigrant employment hit a record high of sixty-eight point two percent in twenty twenty-five.
- The non-EU worker segment saw the largest growth surge at six point six percentage points since twenty seventeen.
- Researchers warn that highly educated migrant skills and non-EU women’s potential remain significantly underutilized.
A report from the ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin found that immigrant employment in the European Union reached a record 68.2% in 2025, up from 67.8% in 2024. The study was released Thursday, July 23, 2026.
The increase includes workers from outside the EU and immigrants moving within the bloc. Both groups recorded higher employment rates over the eight-year period ending in 2025.
The report’s researchers based their findings on Eurostat data. The study was produced by the Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration, or CReAM, at RFBerlin.
Free toolSchengen Short-Stay Visa CalculatorThe strongest change came among non-EU immigrants. Their employment rate rose from 59.4% in 2017 to 66% in 2025, an increase of 6.6 percentage points.
Employment also increased among immigrants moving within the EU. Their rate climbed from 71.1% in 2017 to 74.8% in 2025.
The gains have not removed the gaps identified by the report. Non-EU women and highly educated migrants still face barriers to using their skills in the labor market.
Employment rose across both immigrant groups
The figures show two different levels of employment growth. The non-EU rate began lower, at 59.4% in 2017, but recorded the larger increase by 2025. The rate for immigrants moving within the EU started at 71.1% and reached 74.8%.
That left the two groups at 66% and 74.8%, respectively, in 2025. The overall immigrant employment rate stood between them at 68.2%.
The report describes the 2025 figure as a historic high. It also places the result close to the employment rate of the native population, according to Tommaso Frattini, deputy director of CReAM.
“close to that of the native population,”
Frattini said immigrant employment had reached that level while the European Union continued to leave labor potential untapped.
The next challenge is using skills already in the workforce
Christian Dustmann, director of RFBerlin, said the employment gains changed the central question facing policymakers. Moving migrants into jobs remains part of the task, but the report points to a further problem: whether their qualifications are being used.
“the challenge today is no longer simply getting immigrants into work but ensuring that their skills are fully utilised,”
Dustmann said.
The report specifically identifies highly educated migrants among those facing persistent employment barriers. That finding places the 66% rate in a broader context: an employment statistic can rise while some workers remain unable to use the education and skills they brought to the labor market.
Non-EU women are another group singled out in the study. Their inclusion in the report’s list of continuing gaps shows that the overall improvement has not been evenly distributed across immigrant workers.
The researchers therefore describe the remaining labor potential as “untapped.” The phrase applies even as the headline employment rates approach those of native workers.
The eight-year comparison shows where the increase occurred
| Immigrant group | 2017 employment rate | 2025 employment rate | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Non-EU immigrants | 59.4% | 66% | 6.6 percentage points |
| Immigrants moving within the EU | 71.1% | 74.8% | 3.7 percentage points |
The comparison covers 2017 through 2025. Non-EU immigrant employment rose by more than the rate for immigrants moving within the EU, although it remained lower at the end of the period.
The broader immigrant figure also rose between 2024 and 2025, from 67.8% to 68.2%. That one-year increase was smaller than the change recorded among non-EU immigrants across the full period.
The figures distinguish between the level reached in 2025 and the path taken to get there. The EU’s overall rate reached a record, while the largest long-term movement came from the group that started with the lower employment rate.
The report shifts attention from access to utilization
The study’s findings move the debate beyond whether immigrants are working at all. Frattini’s assessment that the figures are “close to that of the native population” describes a labor market in which employment access has improved substantially.
Dustmann’s warning focuses on what happens after access. Highly educated migrants may hold jobs without fully using their qualifications, while non-EU women continue to face employment gaps. The report treats those barriers as remaining sources of labor potential.
The distinction also explains why a record employment rate does not end the policy issue. A rising rate measures the share of immigrants in employment, while the researchers’ comments raise a separate question about the match between workers’ skills and their jobs.
The CReAM study presents the 2025 result as both an achievement and a limit. Employment reached 68.2%, but the report says the EU still has workers whose abilities are not fully used.
