In Western Balkans, the unemployment rate among active women is typically higher than that of men. The overall gender gap in unemployment rates in the region for 2020 was low compared to the employment gender gap. The average gender gap in unemployment rates for the population of age 15-74 was 2.4 percentage points.
Over the past three years there have been no clear trends in closing the gender gaps in unemployment rates in individual WB economies and the range of gaps is very different across WB economies.
Although women with tertiary education are more likely to participate in the labour market in Western Balkans, many women with tertiary education are not able to find employment. Proportionally, more women with tertiary education are unemployed than men in the Western Balkan economies - 39.6% vs 18.3%, average values for four WB economies for which detailed data was available ).
On average, girls and young women (15-24 age group) in the Western Balkans are slightly less likely than boys and young men (15-24 age group) to fall in the category of Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEETs). Rather than the gender gap in NEET rates, the level of NEET rates is of concern in the Western Balkans, with the NEET rate in five economies above 20% in 2020. The average NEET rate among young women in WB economies in 2020 was 23.1% compared to 23.5% for men, about twice as high as the EU average of 11.1% in 2020 (EUROSTAT, 2022).
| Q1.18 | Q2.18 | Q3.18 | Q4.18 | Q1.19 | Q2.19 | Q3.19 | Q4.19 | Q1.20 | Q2.20 | Q3.20 | Q4.20 | Q1.21 | Q2.21 | Q3. 21 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EU-27 | 8,2 | 7,5 | 7,2 | 7,4 | 7,6 | 6,9 | 6,8 | 6,9 | 7,1 | 6,8 | 8,0 | 7,6 | 8,1 | 7,5 | 7,1 |
| WB average | 13,2 | 18,1 | 18,6 | 20,0 | 17,9 | 18,3 | 18,6 | 18,1 | 17,6 | 17,0 | 17,6 | 18,9 | 19,1 | 15,3 | 14,8 |
| Albania | 12,3 | 11,8 | 11,7 | 11,9 | 11,9 | 11,4 | 11,4 | 11,0 | 11,9 | 11,9 | 11,8 | 12,1 | 12,1 | 11,3 | 11,7 |
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | 19,5 | 19,1 | 16 | 19,5 | 24,5 | 22,5 | 20,8 | ||||||||
| North Macedonia | 21,2 | 20,6 | 20,9 | 19,6 | 17,0 | 20,3 | 19,5 | 17,3 | 16,0 | 16,8 | 15,9 | 16,0 | 15,0 | 14,3 | |
| Montenegro | 16 | 14,8 | 13,4 | 16,3 | 16,7 | 16,1 | 14,8 | 15,1 | 17,3 | 15,3 | 19,2 | 22 | 19,5 | 16,7 | |
| Serbia** | 15,8 | 12,6 | 12,2 | 14,2 | 12,1 | 11 | 10,8 | 10,3 | 10,2 | 7,6 | 9,4 | 10,3 | 13,7 | 11,8 | 12 |
| Kosovo* | 28,7 | 30,6 | 34,8 | 38 | 31,6 | 32,7 | 36,4 | 36,6 | 30,6 | 31,4 | 33,1 | 33,5 | 29,7 |
Source:
: ILOSTAT for North Macedonia, EUROSTAT for EU-27, Statistics Bureaus of other WB economies. **Series Break in 2021. WB average calculated using available data.
| Q1.18 | Q2.18 | Q3.18 | Q4.18 | Q1.19 | Q2.19 | Q3.19 | Q4.19 | Q1.20 | Q2.20 | Q3.20 | Q4.20 | Q1.21 | Q2.21 | Q3. 21 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EU-27 | -0,5 | -0,5 | -0,5 | -0,7 | -0,7 | -0,5 | -0,6 | -0,6 | -0,6 | -0,2 | -0,8 | -0,6 | -0,5 | -0,7 | -0,8 |
| WB average | 5,2 | -0,2 | -0,9 | -2,1 | -1,5 | -3,8 | -4,4 | -3,0 | -2,5 | -1,9 | -1,3 | -2,3 | -7,1 | -8,6 | -3,6 |
| Albania | 0,3 | 1,1 | 0,9 | 0,6 | 0,3 | 0,2 | 0,0 | 0,3 | -0,9 | 0,1 | -0,4 | -0,4 | -0,4 | 0,5 | -0,8 |
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | -4,7 | -5,2 | -3 | -4,8 | -8,9 | -7,3 | -7,2 | ||||||||
| North Macedonia | 1,9 | 1,5 | 0,2 | 0,6 | 1,6 | -4,7 | -4,1 | -0,7 | 0,7 | 0,0 | 1,1 | 0,7 | 2,0 | 2,6 | |
| Montenegro | 0,3 | -0,7 | 1,3 | -0,4 | -3,1 | -3,1 | 0,7 | 1,4 | -1,7 | -0,1 | -0,4 | -1,5 | -0,2 | 0,8 | |
| Serbia** | -1,7 | -1,3 | -1,7 | -2,3 | 0 | -1,3 | -2,3 | -1,2 | -0,9 | -0,6 | -0,6 | -0,7 | -1,6 | -1,3 | -2,8 |
| Kosovo* | -2,8 | -1,5 | -5,3 | -8,8 | -6,2 | -9,9 | -16,2 | -14,6 | -7,6 | -5,7 | -11,6 | -9,2 | -5,5 |
Source:
Author’s calculations based on unemployment rate data: ILOSTAT for North Macedonia, EUROSTAT for EU-27, Statistics Bureaus of other WB economies. **Series Break in 2021. WB average calculated using available data.
| Primary | Secondary | Tertiary | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total | |||
| Serbia | 15,2 | 61,9 | 22,9 |
| Albania | |||
| North Macedonia | |||
| Kosovo* | |||
| EU-27 | |||
| WB average | |||
| Women | |||
| Serbia | |||
| Albania | 35,7 | 30,7 | 33,6 |
| North Macedonia | 14,4 | 50,8 | 34,1 |
| Kosovo* | 21,4 | 57,7 | 21,0 |
| EU-27 | 30,2 | 42,4 | 27,2 |
| WB average | 23,8 | 46,4 | 29,6 |
| Men | |||
| Serbia | |||
| Albania | 32,0 | 51,5 | 16,4 |
| North Macedonia | 27,9 | 56,1 | 15,8 |
| Kosovo* | 20,8 | 56,5 | 22,7 |
| EU-27 | 37,0 | 43,1 | 19,7 |
| WB average | 26,9 | 54,7 | 18,3 |
Source:
Respective Statistics Bureaus of Western Balkan economies, and ILOSTAT, 2022.
| Women | Men | WB Women's average | WB Men's average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EU-27 | 11,1 | 11,0 | 23,1 | 23,5 |
| Albania | 26,2 | 27,1 | 23,1 | 23,5 |
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | 23,3 | 20,4 | 23,1 | 23,5 |
| North Macedonia | 20,5 | 20,7 | 23,1 | 23,5 |
| Montenegro | 20,6 | 21,5 | 23,1 | 23,5 |
| Serbia | 14,8 | 17,0 | 23,1 | 23,5 |
| Kosovo* | 33,2 | 34,0 | 23,1 | 23,5 |
Source:
EPSR 2021 for EU-27 and Albania, Statistical Office of Serbia, and ILOSTAT for Bosnia & Herzegovina, Montenegro, and North Macedonia.
