(ANSA) - BELGRADE, APR 25 - In 2025, the European Union had 2.06 million self-employed workers aged 20 to 29, accounting for 7.9% of the overall category. According to Eurostat, Italy ranks fifteenth, roughly in the middle of the rankings, with a percentage that is comparable to the average. Slovakia (12.2%), Malta (10.5%), and Romania (10.3%) had the highest proportions of young entrepreneurs among self-employed workers aged 20 to 64 in the EU. The lowest shares were found in Ireland (5.1%), Bulgaria (5.3%), and Spain (5.9%). According to Eurostat, the employment rate for people aged 20 to 29 increased by 6.3 percentage points in 2016, to 65.6%. The Netherlands and Malta had the highest rates (84.0 and 82.1 percent, respectively), followed by Germany (77.0%). On the other hand, Italy had the lowest rate at 47.6%, followed by Romania (52.0%) and Bulgaria (52.7%). Italy ranks second only to Bosnia across all of Europe. (ANSA).