Five Spanish regions top EU unemployment table for 2013

The arguments bandied about by the government that Spain’s economy is on its way to recovery are in stark contrast to the statistics that are regularly released by Brussels. Figures published on Tuesday by Eurostat, for example, reveal that the top-five regions in the European Union in terms of unemployment rate are all Spanish, an unprecedented result since the statistical series began.

The top spots on the list are occupied by Andalusia (which closed 2013 with an unemployment rate of 36.3%), Ceuta (35.6%), Melilla (34.4%), the Canary Islands (34.1%) and Extremadura (33.7%). Further down the list there are more Spanish regions to be found, with Castilla-La Mancha in seventh place (30.1%) and Murcia ninth (34.4%). West Macedonia and Central Macedonia (Greece) occupy the sixth and eighth spots, respectively, with 31.8% and 30.0%, while the French region of Reunión comes in 10^th, with a 28.9% unemployment rate.

Meanwhile, one Czech, two Austrian and six German regions boast the lowest unemployment rates in the EU.

With 26.03% of the active population without a job, Spain is the second-worst country in the EU in terms of unemployment, with only Greece posting a higher figure (27.5%).

All of Spain’s regions have higher unemployment rates than the EU average, which came in at 10.8% for 2013. In fact, 13 regions more than doubled that figure, among them Andalusia, Ceuta, Melilla, the Canary Islands and Extremadura.

With regard to youth unemployment (between the ages of 15 and 24), Ceuta came in top of the list with 72.7%, compared to the EU average of 23.4%. Along with Ceuta in the top 10 were the Spanish regions of Andalusia (66.1%), Extremadura (61.7%) and Castilla-La Mancha (61.6%).