Band 7+: The graph below shows the percentage of unemployed people aged between 15 and 24 in five European countries in 2005, compared with the overall percentage of unemployment in those countries. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant. You should write at least 150 words.

The bar chart illustrates the percentage of unemployed people aged 15 to 24 and the overall unemployment rate in five European countries – Poland, Italy, Hungary, Germany, and Denmark – in 2005.

Overall, youth unemployment rates were consistently higher than their respective overall rates across all five countries, with Poland recording the highest and Denmark the lowest in both categories. Other countries fell in between.

In terms of overall unemployment, Poland recorded the highest figure (15%), a wide disparity of 5 percentage points compared to Germany (10%), which ranked second. In contrast, all three remaining countries had overall unemployment rates lower than 10%: Italy (9%), Hungary (7%), and Denmark (3%).

Poland also topped youth unemployment at approximately 37%, which more than doubled its overall figure. Similarly, Italy (23%) and Hungary (17%) exceeded their respective overalls by wide margins. On the other hand, Germany (15%) and Denmark (7.5%) exceeded their totals by just about 5% – the smallest difference between overall and youth unemployment across the five countries.