Title page 1

Contents 5

Country codes 6

Abbreviations and acronyms 6

1. Introduction 8

1.1. Overview 8

1.2. Background and related literature 9

1.3. Report structure 10

1.4. Data source and population of interest 10

1.5. Definitions of mismatch indicators 11

1.6. Analytical approach and limitations 12

2. Educational attainment mismatch 14

2.1. Educational attainment mismatch at EU level 14

2.2. Educational attainment mismatch by sex and age 16

2.2.1. Differences by sex 16

2.2.2. Differences by age 17

2.3. Overqualification across Member States 19

3. Field of education mismatch 22

3.1. Field of education mismatch at EU level 22

3.2. Field of education mismatch by age 24

3.3. Field match across Member States 25

4. Skills mismatch 27

4.1. Skills mismatch at EU level 27

4.2. Skills mismatch by sex and age 28

4.2.1. Differences by sex 28

4.2.2. Differences by age 29

4.3. Over-skilling across Member States 30

5. Synthesis and conclusions 32

5.1. Consistent mismatch patterns across dimensions 32

5.2. Demographic variation in mismatch 33

5.3. Country-level differences 34

5.4. Conclusion 34

Annex A. Table of tables and figures 36

A.1. Table of figures 36

A.2. Table of tables 36

Annex B. Data tables for each variable 38

Table 1. Overqualification rates among young workers (15-34) by mobility status and Member State of Residence, 2024 21

Table 2. Summary of mismatch indicators by mobility status, EU-27, 2024 32

Table 3. Educational attainment mismatch among young workers (15-34) by mobility status for EU Member States in percentages 38

Table 4. Field of Education mismatch among young workers (15-34) by mobility status for EU Member States in percentages 38

Table 5. Skills mismatch among young workers (15-34) by mobility status for EU Member States in percentages 39

Table 6. Educational attainment mismatch among young workers (15-34) by mobility status and sex for EU27 in percentages 39

Table 7. Skills mismatch among young workers (15-34) by mobility status and sex for EU27 40

Table 8. Educational attainment mismatch among young workers (15-34) by mobility status and age for EU27 in percentages 40

Table 9. Field of Education mismatch among young workers (15-34) by mobility status and age for EU27 41

Table 10. Skills mismatch among young workers (15-34) by mobility status and age for EU27 in percentages 42

Figure 1. Educational attainment mismatch among young workers (15-34) by mobility status, EU-27, 2024 15

Figure 2. Overqualification rates among young workers by sex and mobility status, EU-27, 2024 16

Figure 3. Educational attainment mismatch by age group and mobility status, EU-27, 2024 18

Figure 4. Proportion of overqualified young EU movers (aged 15-34), by Member State of residence, 2024 20

Figure 5. Field of education match among young workers (15-34) by mobility status, EU-27, 2024 23

Figure 6. Field of education match by age group and mobility status, EU-27, 2024 24

Figure 7. Proportion of high field match among young EU movers (aged 15-34), for selected Member States, 2024 25

Figure 8. Self-reported skills match among young workers (15-34) by mobility status, EU-27, 2024 27

Figure 9. Over-skilling rates among young workers by sex and mobility status, EU-27, 2024 28

Figure 10. Skills mismatch by age group and mobility status, EU-27, 2024 29

Figure 11. Proportion of over-skilled young EU movers (aged 15-34), by Member State, 2024 31