In the fourth quarter of 2024, Bulgaria was one of the three EU countries with the lowest job vacancy rate, standing at just 0.7%. Alongside Bulgaria, Poland and Romania reported the same low rate. This figure is in line with the overall EU job vacancy rate, which remained steady at 2.3% compared to the previous quarter and lower than 2.6% in the fourth quarter of 2023. Within the euro area, the job vacancy rate also held steady at 2.5%, down from 2.9% in the same period a year earlier.

Among the EU member states, Belgium and the Netherlands recorded the highest vacancy rates, each at 4.1%, followed by Austria at 3.6%. In comparison, Bulgaria's job vacancy rate remained consistent with the previous quarter, with no significant change from 0.8% in the third quarter of 2024. In the services sector, Bulgaria saw a rate of 0.7%, while industry and construction experienced a vacancy rate of 0.6%, both unchanged from the previous quarter and the same period in 2023.

Eurostat data also highlighted that, over the past year, the job vacancy rate increased in four countries, including Denmark, Spain, Croatia, and Malta, each seeing a rise of 0.1 percentage points. However, the most notable decreases were in Germany (down by 0.7 percentage points), Greece (down by 0.6 points), and France and Austria (both down by 0.5 percentage points).