Expenditure on training measures for the unemployed across the EU

In 2003 the EU-15 Member States spent a combined total of more than 25 billion Euros on training measures for the unemployed and other disadvantaged groups needing help in the labour market. Nearly half of this money is spent on classroom based training; work-based training other than apprenticeships is relatively little used, accounting for less than 7% of training expenditure. Across the EU, the largest share of expenditure on training (43%) goes to cover the costs of the training, 33% goes to support the beneficiaries of training and 16% to employers who take on trainees. However, the way in which individual countries spend money on training varies considerably. The interpretation of these differences is far from straightforward and demonstrates the value of the extensive qualitative data collected by the Eurostat LMP database.