Press Release 19/01/2024

SURVEY ON POPULATION IN RELATION TO ACTIVITY. IV/2023

The number of people out of work fell by 5,800 and the unemployment rate dropped to 7% in the fourth quarter of 2023 in the Basque Country

In the last year, the number of people out of work fell by 16,700 and the unemployment rate dropped from 8.5% to 7%.

Data from the fourth quarter of 2023 on the labour market in the Basque Country showed 500 more people in work and 5,800 fewer unemployed people than in the previous quarter, according to Eustat data. There were an estimated 73,100 unemployed people this quarter and the figure for people in work stood at 976,400 in the fourth quarter of 2023. The unemployment rate for the Basque Country stood at 7%, 5 percentage points down on the third quarter of 2023. This unemployment rate has not been seen in the Basque economy since 2008.

As a result of the evolution in the employed and unemployed population, the activity rate was 56% in the fourth quarter of 2023, down 0.3 percentage points on the previous quarter.

By province and compared to the previous quarter, the number of people employed rose by 2,000 in Álava, and fell in both Bizkaia (900 fewer people), and Gipuzkoa (600 fewer people). With regards to the capitals, there were 1,600 more people employed in Bilbao and 400 more in Vitoria-Gasteiz; however, in San Sebastián there were 1,500 fewer people employed.

The greatest increase in employment occurred among women (+900), whilst there were 300 fewer men in work. With regards to nationality, the number of foreign nationals in work rose by 3,000 (+3.4%), whilst the number of Spanish nationals in work fell by 2,500 (-0.3%).

Employment only increased in the industrial sector

The working population in the Basque country increased by 6,100 people (+3.1%) in Industry and fell in the other sectors: by 4,000 people (-0.6%) in Services, by 1,100 (-1.9%) in Construction, and by 600 people (-7.2%) in the primary sector.

The employment rate, calculated as the percentage of people in work aged 16 to 64 over the total for these ages, rose by 0.1 percentage point compared to the previous quarter, standing at 70.5%. This rate remained at 73.4% for men and reached 67.5% for women.

As regards nationality, the highest employment rate was recorded among Spanish nationals at 71.8%, down 0.2 percentage points in respect of the previous quarter, whereas for foreign nationals this rose by 2.2 points to stand at 59.8%.

By province, Gipuzkoa had the highest employment rate with 71.7%, despite a decrease of 0.5 percentage points compared to the previous quarter; in second place was Álava with 70.3%, increasing by 1 percentage point in respect of the previous quarter; and, finally, in Bizkaia the employment rate rose by 0.1 percentage point to stand at 69.8%.

In relation to the types of contracts of salaried individuals, the number of people with permanent contracts increased by 3,800 in respect of the previous quarter and, in relation to the previous year, it rose by 25,600 people.

In six out of every ten households all active individuals were employed

In the fourth quarter of 2023 it was estimated that there were 909,500 households in the Basque Country, of which a third did not have any active individuals, 2,000 more households than in the previous quarter. In six out of every ten households, all of the active individuals were in work, 1,800 fewer families; furthermore, households where all active individuals were unemployed stood at 25,200, 200 more households than in the previous quarter.

The fourth quarter of 2023 presented an unemployment rate of 7%, half a percentage point down on the previous quarter

The unemployed population in the Basque Country, that is, people who are available for work, actively making enquiries and seeking employment, was estimated to be 73,100 in the fourth quarter of the year, 5,800 fewer than in the previous quarter. The number of unemployed women, 34,500 individuals, decreased by 4,400, whilst the number of unemployed men saw a drop of 1,400, reaching a total of 38,600 for the quarter.

The data for the fourth quarter of 2023 showed an unemployment rate of 7%, half a percentage point down on the previous quarter. The unemployment rate for women dropped 0.8 percentage points to 6.9%, and the unemployment rate for men stood at 7.1% (-0.2 percentage points).

With regards to nationality, the unemployed population figure decreased among Spanish nationals by 3,500 to stand at 53,900. Among foreign nationals it fell by 2,400, to 19,200 people out of work.

By province, the number of people out of work in Álava fell by 200, and the unemployment rate dropped by 0.2 percentage points to stand at 7.6%. In Gipuzkoa, with 18,600 people out of work, the number of unemployed people fell by 3,400 and the unemployment rate increased by 0.9 percentage points to 5.4%. In Bizkaia, the number of unemployed people fell by 2,400 and the unemployment rate dropped 0.4 percentage points to stand at 7.7%.

As regards the capitals, there were 600 fewer unemployed people in San Sebastián; however, there were 1,000 more unemployed people in Bilbao and 400 more in Vitoria-Gasteiz, in respect of the previous quarter.

According to EUROSTAT, the Statistical Office of the European Union, in November 2023 the deseasonalised unemployment rate of the European Union as a whole was 5.9% and that of Spain stood at 11.9%.

Over the last year, the number of employed people increased by 1.4% and the unemployment rate dropped from 8.5% to 7%

The employed population in the Basque Country increased by 1.4% in relation to the fourth quarter of 2022, 13,500 more employed people, and the unemployment rate decreased by 1.5 percentage points (from 8.5% to 7%), with 16,700 fewer people unemployed in the Basque Country compared to the fourth quarter of 2022.

97.1% of average registered workers were in work, according to ILO criteria.

It is calculated that there were 935,200 registered workers for the quarter on average in the Basque Country, i.e. the number of individuals resident in the Basque Country who were registered for Social Security, weighted by the number of days worked in the quarter. Of those, the PRA estimates that 97.1% were employed, a total of 908,400 individuals, according to criteria from the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Amongst those employed according to ILO criteria in the PRA, 39,000 people (4%) were not registered in the Social Security system, because they belonged to public mutual societies for civil servants, or because they were in other situations.

37.5% of unemployed people were not registered as being unemployed

It is estimated that there was a quarterly average of 87,700 unemployed people registered with Lanbide, i.e. people residing in the Basque Country who were registered on Lanbide at the time of the survey in any one of the categories designated for registered unemployment. Of those, 49.4% were unemployed according to the ILO definition (43,400 people). 37.5% of unemployed people according to the ILO definition in the PRA were not registered as unemployed with Lanbide (27,400 people), even though they may have been registered under other categories of job seeker.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tel.: 945 01 75 62