The employment rate for all the 25 European Union (EU) member states stood at 63.3 percent in 2004, up from 62.4 percent in 2000, the EU said on Thursday.

"In 2004, 194.5 million people aged 15 years and more had a job or a business activity in the EU 25. The total employment rate for people aged 15-64 was 63.3 percent," said a press release of Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the EU.

The employment rate for women was 55.7 percent in the bloc in 2004, the agency said.

In the EU 25, the employment rate for junior citizens aged 55- 64 reached 41.0 percent, up from the 36.6 percent registered in 2000.

Eurostat said Denmark ranked top among the 25-member bloc with an employment rate of 75.7 percent in 2004, while Poland was placed at the bottom with 51.7 percent.

Denmark also registered 71.6 percent of female employment rate in 2004, the highest within the EU, said Eurostat.

Source: Xinhua