Cedefop’s skills forecast provides crucial insights into current and future labour market trends across Europe, supporting evidence-based policy-making and strategic planning. The latest country reports on skills forecasts offer a useful lens into the evolving employment landscape across Europe. They are particularly relevant in the context of the European Year of Skills and the Union of Skills, which underscore the central role of upskilling and reskilling in strengthening Europe’s competitiveness and social resilience.
At a time when the EU is driving forward with ambitious transitions – green and digital, alongside the ever-present demographic shifts – this series provides timely, evidence-based insights.
Published as part of Cedefop’s ongoing efforts to inform and support national and EU-level policy design, the reports present detailed analyses of future skills demand and supply for each EU Member State*. They present a nuanced picture of the potential mismatches and transformation pressures that different sectors and occupations are likely to face by 2035.
Supporting EU strategic priorities
As the European Green Deal, Digital Decade targets, and Pact for Skills accelerate transformation across industries, understanding the trajectory of skill needs becomes not just a matter of planning but of strategic foresight.
Each country report aligns with EU strategic policy goals, helping national authorities reflect on how employment structures are shifting and where skill bottlenecks may emerge. For instance, several reports highlight the growing demand for high-level digital skills across sectors – from manufacturing and construction to healthcare and public services – underscoring the urgent need for lifelong learning systems that can support continuous professional development.
A forward-looking compass for national action
With a concise outlook on national employment trends by sector, occupational group and educational level, the reports are a practical tool for aligning vocational education and training (VET) systems with labour market realities. Policy makers and stakeholders can use these insights to:
Anticipate job creation and transformation, potentially linked to the green and digital transitions.
Plan targeted interventions for sectors with declining employment and skills gaps.
Address demographic changes such as ageing populations and shrinking workforces.
Strengthen VET planning with solid labour market intelligence.
Facilitating shared understanding and cooperation
Cedefop’s country-level skills forecast reports also contribute to deeper mutual learning and policy dialogue across Member States. By presenting comparable data and insights, they foster transparency and shared understanding of how global trends manifest at the national level. This is crucial for coordinated action, especially in areas such as cross-border labour mobility, joint education initiatives, and regional cooperation under the EU’s European Education Area and Skills Agenda.
Access the 2025 Skills Forecast tool
Detailed and granular data on labour force and employment projections by sector, occupation and country based on the latest release of Skills Forecast is accessible via Cedefop’s Skills Forecast online tool.
*Cedefop’s skills forecast offers quantitative estimations of future trends in employment by business industry and occupation for all Member States, plus a few more countries (Iceland, North Macedonia, Norway, Switzerland, Türkiye). It uses harmonised international data and a common methodological approach to offer cross-country comparisons and benchmarking, rather than replace national forecasting models. The macroeconomic context is built around the most likely scenario, using official economic and population projections.