More graduates are struggling to find jobs in Malta.
Marisa Xuereb
Eurostat's figures do not show graduates finding it harder to get work. In 2025, 91.0% of Malta's recent graduates were employed, the highest rate in the EU, against 82.9% across the EU. Among those with a degree, the rate was 94.1%, up from 93.2% in 2021. The rate dipped in 2024 and recovered in 2025. The figures do not show how long graduates take to find work, or whether the jobs match their qualifications.How we reached this verdict ↓
Analysis and evaluation
Malta's recent graduates are more likely to be in work than graduates anywhere else in the EU, and the share in work is higher than five years ago.
Employment of recent graduates
| Year | All recent graduates, Malta | Tertiary graduates, Malta | All recent graduates, EU |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 87.6% | 93.2% | 79.4% |
| 2022 | 89.9% | 94.7% | 82.4% |
| 2023 | 95.8% | 96.1% | 83.3% |
| 2024 | 88.9% | 90.6% | 82.2% |
| 2025 | 91.0% | 94.1% | 82.9% |
Employment rate of people aged 20 to 34 who completed their highest qualification one to three years earlier and are no longer in education or training. "All recent graduates" covers upper secondary to tertiary level. Source: Eurostat, edat_lfse_24.
In 2025, Malta had the highest employment rate of recent graduates in the EU, ahead of Germany and the Netherlands. The rate fell in 2024, from a peak of 95.8% in 2023, then recovered. Among university graduates it was 94.1% in 2025, higher than in 2021.
What the figures do not show
An employment rate counts whether graduates are in work, not how long it took them to get there. A graduate who spent months applying before landing a job counts the same as one hired straight away. Nor does it show whether the job uses the qualification: around 22% of tertiary-educated workers in Malta were overqualified for their jobs in 2024, close to the EU average of about 21%.
Evaluation
There is no sign in the data of a growing share of graduates failing to find work. The rate is higher than in 2021 and the highest in the EU. Whether graduates are taking longer to find work, or settling for jobs below their level, the available figures cannot show. That is why the claim is rated Unlikely true.
Editorial note
How we assessed this claim
We read the claim as saying that a growing share of graduates cannot find work, and tested it against Eurostat's employment rate of recent graduates: people aged 20 to 34 who finished their education one to three years earlier and are no longer studying.
Unlikely true, because the employment rate of recent graduates is higher than in 2021, is the highest in the EU, and has not fallen in a sustained way. We could not rule out that graduates take longer to find work, which these figures do not measure.
Limitations
- The headline rate counts graduates from upper secondary education upwards, not only university graduates. We also report the rate for tertiary graduates separately.
- Employment rates do not show how long a graduate searched before finding a job, or whether the job matches the qualification. Around 22% of tertiary-educated workers in Malta were overqualified for their jobs in 2024, close to the EU average of about 21%.
- Malta's sample is small, so the rate moves noticeably from year to year.
Sources
- Eurostat, Employment rates of recent graduates, dataset edat_lfse_24
- Eurostat, Employment of recent graduates reached 83% in 2025, 15 June 2026
- Eurostat, Employment annual statistics, overqualification, 2024