Key facts
- Immigrant employment in the EU reached a record 68.2% in 2025.
- The employment rate for non-EU immigrants increased by 6.6 percentage points from 2017 to 2025, reaching 66%.
- The employment rate for EU immigrants rose to 74.8% in 2025.
- The study identified remaining employment gaps concentrated among non-EU women and highly educated migrants.
- Employment outcomes vary significantly across EU countries, with high rates in Malta, Czech Republic, and Ireland, and lower rates in Belgium and Finland.
Immigrant employment in the European Union reached a record high in 2025, according to a study by the ROCKWOOL Foundation Berlin (RFBerlin). The overall employment rate for immigrants increased to 68.2% from 67.8% in 2024, narrowing the gap with native-born workers. The study, which utilized Eurostat data, indicated that the proportion of immigrants in employment has been rising for many years and is approaching that of the native population.
The most significant improvements were observed among non-EU immigrants, whose employment rate climbed from 59.4% in 2017 to 66% in 2025, a gain of 6.6 percentage points. The employment rate for EU immigrants also saw an increase, rising from 71.1% to 74.8% over the same period. For comparison, the employment rate among those working in their country of birth rose from 67.2% to 71.6%.
However, the report highlighted considerable variations in outcomes across different EU member states. Malta, the Czech Republic, and Ireland reported particularly high employment rates for non-EU immigrants, while Belgium and Finland showed lower figures. In Germany, the employment rate for immigrants stood at 66.1%, compared to 79.6% for native-born individuals.
Christian Dustmann, director of RFBerlin, stated that the primary challenge has shifted from simply getting immigrants into work to ensuring their skills are fully utilized. The report identified remaining employment gaps as being concentrated among non-EU women and highly educated migrants.