HC Deb 02 April 1996 vol 275 c105W
Mr. Dunn

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what is the percentage and number of unemployed in each EU country at the latest date for which figures are available. [24029]

Mrs. Angela Knight

Information on both the level and rate of unemployment in each EU country can be found in labour force survey results, published by the statistical office of the European Community—SOEC. Unpublished data relating to 1994 are given in the table below. More up-to-date estimates of the rate of International Labour Organisation unemployment, not the level, in each country can be found in the SOEC's monthly "Unemployment Bulletin" which is available in the House of Commons Library; the estimates for December 1995 are shown in the table.

ILO unemployment numbers and rates in EU countries
December 19951 Rate(Per cent.) Spring 19942 Number(000) Rate(Per cent.)
Spain1 22.2 3,760 24.3
Finland 17.0
Ireland 14.6 206 14.6
Italy 12.6 2,560 11.3
France 11.6 3,149 12.7
Belgium 10.3 400 9.6
Sweden 9.7
Greece 9.4 368 8.9
Germany 8.6 3,427 8.7
United Kingdom 8.6 2,741 9.7
Portugal 7.3 319 6.7
Netherlands 6.7 517 7.2
Denmark 6.1 222 8.0
Luxembourg 4.0 6 3.5
EU total 10.9 17,676 11.4
Sources:

1 SOEC monthly unemployment bulletin. All figures refer to December 1995 except the Netherlands (Nov 1995) and Greece (July 1994). Figures for Austria are not available.

2 SOEC labour force survey results. Figures refer to the results of the spring labour force survey in the listed countries.