Croatia's unemployment rate was 9.8 percent in January 2018, down slightly from 10 percent in December, according to the latest Eurostat report released on Friday (March 2).

The rate translates to around 176,000 jobless people in the country in January, or 4,000 down compared to the month before.

Year-on-year, the unemployment rate dropped by 2.4 percent, cutting the number of jobless by 47,000. This placed Croatia among the top five EU countries with the biggest fall in unemployment levels, a list that includes Cyprus, Greece, Portugal and Spain – all of whom posted a decrease of 2.1 percent or more.

The three lowest unemployment rates among EU countries were posted by the Czech Republic (2.4 percent), Malta (3.5 percent), and Germany (3.6 percent). Greece still holds the bottom place on the list, with 20.9 percent (as reported in November 2017) with Spain just in front at 16.3 percent.

In the European Union as a whole, the month-on-month unemployment rate remained unchanged at 7.3 percent, the lowest it has been since October 2008, and down from 8.1 percent in January 2017. Youth unemployment rate, which measures the rate of jobless people under the age of 25, was 16.1 percent, down from 17.6 year-on-year. By country, the rate ranges from the Czech Republic’s 5.8 percent on the low end, all the way to Italy (31.5 percent), Spain (36 percent) and Greece (43.7 percent).

Croatia – which only reports quarterly youth unemployment figures – posted a 24.5 percent rate in the last three months of 2017. The latest revised Eurostat report put the January 2017 figure at 28.7 percent.