Global youth unemployment rate rose to 12.4% in 2025, ILO says

The Story in Brief

The global youth unemployment rate reached 12.4% in 2025, with 67 million people aged 15-24 out of work, the International Labour Organization has said. Its ‘Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026’ report also found that the share of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) rose to 20%, affecting 257 million. The tentative post-Covid recovery in youth labour markets has stalled, the ILO said, blaming slowing economic growth, geopolitical tensions and rapid technological change.

The largest increases in youth unemployment were in northern Africa, northern America, and northern, southern and western Europe. In Central and Western Asia, falling jobless rates were offset by rising NEET numbers. Gender gaps remain entrenched: more than two of every three NEET youth in 2025 were women. ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo said a generation without decent work cannot build its future with confidence. The report also noted anxiety among young people about artificial intelligence replacing jobs, though the ILO said it was too soon to confirm causality.