Only 1.4% of all jobs in the Portuguese labour market were vacant in the second quarter of 2025, one of the lowest rates in the European Union (EU). In comparison, and according to data released by Eurostat, for the same period, the EU average was 2.1%.

"In the second quarter of 2025, the job vacancy rate was 2.2% in the Eurozone, a decline from 2.4% in the first quarter of 2025 and 2.6% in the second quarter of 2024. The job vacancy rate in the EU was 2.1% in the second quarter of 2025, falling from 2.2% in the first quarter of this year and 2.4% in the second quarter of 2024," the statistics office reports.

Among the various Member States for which data are available, the highest job vacancy rate was recorded in the Netherlands (4.2%), followed by Belgium (3.9%), Austria (3.4%), Cyprus (3.3%), and Malta (3.2%).

In contrast, Romania stands out as the EU country with the lowest job vacancy rate: 0.6%. Spain also ranks at the bottom of the table (0.8%), followed by Poland (0.8%) and Bulgaria (0.9%).

Author: Eurostat;

Portugal ranks as the eighth European country with the lowest job vacancy rate in the second quarter. Here, this indicator stood at 1.4% between April and June, the same value recorded in the previous quarter and in the same period last year.

Portugal was therefore one of three Member States where the job vacancy rate stabilised in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period last year. In five other countries, this indicator increased, and in 19, it fell.

"Increases were recorded in Cyprus (+0.3 percentage points), Lithuania and Malta (both +0.2 percentage points), Bulgaria and Estonia (both +0.1 percentage points)," Eurostat notes.

The largest declines were recorded in Greece (-0.9 percentage points), Finland (-0.7 percentage points), Germany, and Austria (both -0.6 percentage points).