UK among the best European country for graduate employment! 

UK ranked eighth best European country to work in for graduates this year with over 86% of recent graduate employment rate. This is a 0.4% graduate employment rate increase from 2020. Please see more details below. 

With graduate schemes, and jobs seeing a seasonal peak in autumn, Savoystewart.co.uk was interested in finding out which European country has the highest graduate employment rate. To do so, they collated official data for 31 countries from Eurostat and Gov.uk, revealing the best country to work in for graduates! 

Top 10 European Countries with the Highest Graduate Employment Rate

Rank	Country	Percentage of recent graduate employment (%)
1	Netherlands	93.1
2	Germany	91.3
3	Norway	91.0
4	Malta	89.0
5	Austria	87.7
6	Switzerland	87.4
7	Sweden	87.2
8	United Kingdom	86.7
9	Ireland	86.2
10	Hungary	85.5

Savoystewart.co.uk can reveal that the Netherlands currently has the highest graduate employment rate in Europe – at 93.1%. This is a 3.8% increase from 2020 where they positioned fourth among all European countries reviewed. As Europe’s logistic hub, the Netherlands offers plenty of graduate job opportunities in sectors such as manufacturing, logistics, and agriculture. Home to many widely known international companies, it is also an attractive place for international students who are seeking jobs in Europe. 

Ranking second is Germany with an employment rate of 91.3% for recent graduates. The figure increased by 1.7% and showed a positive post-COVID employment recovery in the country. Known for being the biggest automotive market in Europe, it is not surprising to see that the most popular industries for graduates’ jobs include vehicle manufacturing, along with machinery, and electronics.

Norway came third with a 91.0% recent employment rate for graduates, 1.3% higher than the previous year. A recent survey also showed that the unemployment rate among recent master’s degree graduates dropped to the lowest since 2013. Industries such as healthcare, energy, tourism, and IT are all popular among graduates. 

Bottom 5 European Countries 

Rank	Country	Percentage of recent graduate employment (%)
1	Italy	57.9
2	Greece	60.1
3	Serbia	65.1
4	Romania	70.1
5	Spain	72.8

At the other end is Italy with graduate employment at 57.9%, the lowest among all European countries reviewed. Despite a big improvement (5.2%) in the graduate employment rate from the previous year, Greece ranked as the second worst country for graduates. Battling economic issues, Serbia and Romania follow with 65.1% and 70.1%, respectively. With a graduate employment rate of 72.8%, Spain is the fifth worst country for graduate jobs. 

Top 5 European Countries with the Biggest Graduate Employment Rate Increase

Rank	Country	Percentage of recent graduate employment (%)	% of Increase*(from the previous year)
1	Ireland	86.2	6.7
2	Lithuania	79.9	5.4
3	Greece	60.1	5.2
4	Netherlands	93.1	3.8
5	Hungary	85.5	3.3

Ireland is the country with the highest increase (6.7%) in graduate employment rates across Europe. Their employment rate for graduates jumped from below 80% to over 86%, the biggest increase among all countries reviewed. 

Receiving second and third are Lithuania at 5.4% and Greece at 5.2%. The Netherlands has seen the fourth highest increase in Europe while Hungary is fifth with 3.3%. 

Please see the graphic for all regions ranking as attached. The full dataset ranked by the graduate employment rate and the rate increase can be found on Onedrive here. 

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