HC Deb 24 March 2003 vol 402 cc69-70W
Mr. Spring

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many citizens of the European Union were out of work on average last year. [101605]

Malcolm Wicks

[holding answer 7 March 2003]I have been asked to reply.

At the end of 2002, the number of unemployed people in the European Union, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) definition, was 13.8 million. Around 77 million working-age people were estimated to be 'inactive' in the EU labour market. Excluding the 15 to 19-year-old age group, many of whom are in education or training, the number of Inactive' working-age people was 53 million.