The map highlights a clear spatial pattern with respect to youth unemployment rates, with the highest rates in the Southern European countries – all but Turkey – and generally medium-high rates in countries like France, Belgium, Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia, Poland, Ireland, Sweden and Finland. The lowest youth unemployment rates are found in select Northern and Central European countries, namely Switzerland, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and north-western Russia. The pattern in Turkey, the UK, Lithuania and Estonia, is mixed, with at least some regions with low rates of youth unemployment.
The comparatively high rates of youth unemployment in many countries seem to stem to a large degree from the 2007-2008 financial crisis. Interestingly, countries such as France, Belgium, Romania, Poland, Sweden and Finland have rates of youth unemployment that are particularly high in comparison to their overall unemployment rates.