The unemployment rate in Spain fell by just over half a percentage point to 9.93 percent by the end of 2025, according to new data from the Labour Force Survey recently published by Spain’s National Statistics Institute (INE).
A total of as 605,400 more people were employed in Spain in 2025, helping to decrease the unemployment rate.
This means that fist the first time since the beginning of 2008, the rate has dropped below the 10 percent threshold.
“For the first time since 2008, unemployment falls below 10 percent. Spain has almost 22.5 million people with jobs, a new record,” Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez celebrated on X.
Unemployment decreased by 107,700 among Spaniards, and by 28,300 among resident foreigners here.
While this is great news for both, there is still a stark contrast when it comes to unemployment rates between ages.
Unfortunately, the youth unemployment rate in Spain remains high at 23 percent, which is a new low since the 2008 financial crisis.
This makes it very difficult for young people in Spain to leave home and earn enough to afford accommodation on their own, which is why many still live with their parents up to the age of 30.
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The number of people employed in each sector was also vastly different. Unemployment decreased over the past year in services (down 43,200) and agriculture (down 4,700), while it increased in Industry (up 4,200) and Construction (up 2,600).
The working population as a whole continues to grow in Spain and now stands at around 25 million people according to the latest figures, after increasing by almost half a million in the last year.
Spain’s economic growth has been consistently outperforming peers in the developed world, but its unemployment rate has been the highest in the European Union.
The rate peaked at around 27 percent in early 2013 in the wake of the economic crises but has steadily fallen in recent years as the tourism sector performed strongly after the Covid-19 pandemic.
The leftist government is aiming to bring it down to around eight percent by the end of its term in 2027, which it says corresponds to full employment.
With additional reporting by AFP.
