The recovery witnessed in youth labour markets after the COVID-19 pandemic has stalled, according to the ‘Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026: Back to the Future’ report prepared by the International Labour Organization (ILO). The report, released in Geneva on Wednesday (August 12, 2026), also noted that slowing global economic growth, diminished job creation, geopolitical tensions and rapid technological change are combining to make the transition from school to decent work increasingly difficult for many young people.
The global unemployment rate for young people aged 15 to 24, according to the report, reached 12.4% in 2025, equalling 67 million unemployed young people worldwide, an increase of 0.1 percentage points over the lowest level witnessed in more than two decades in 2023. “The global share of young people not in employment, education, or training (NEET) is also again on the rise, reaching 20% in 2025 from 19.7% in 2023,” the report noted. This translates to an increase of nine million more young people in NEET status since 2023, bringing the total to 257 million in 2025. “With many more young people implicated and with youth disengagement harder to redress, the increasing trend in the youth NEET rate is especially worrisome,” the report added.
The youth unemployment rate rose in eight of the 11 subregions, as well as in high-income, lower-middle-income and low-income countries between 2023 and 2025. “The largest increases were in Northern Africa, Northern America and Northern, Southern and Western Europe. In Central and Western Asia and Eastern Europe, and in upper-middle-income countries, the ‘good news’ of declining youth unemployment rate was muted by the rise in youth in NEET status,” it said, adding that the gender gaps remain entrenched as young men still have the advantage in labour market entry. “The NEET challenge has a female face in almost all subregions of the world,” the report said as more than two out of every three youth in NEET status in 2025 were women and the NEET rate of young women was 27.4%, more than double that of young men, which was 13.1%.
Decent work
Commenting on the report, ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo said the generation that cannot find decent work cannot build its future with confidence. “When young people are locked out of quality employment, countries lose talent, productivity and social cohesion. Creating decent jobs for young people is not just a social imperative; it is one of the smartest investments a country can make,” he said.
In developing economies, the report added, the challenge remains creating enough decent jobs to absorb growing young populations. “Low unemployment rates conceal widespread labour market insecurity, as many young people cannot afford to remain unemployed and instead enter informal or unstable work,” it said.
6.1% of jobs held by young people aged 15 to 29 are in occupations highly exposed to AI-related changes. “There is increasing noise around AI,” said ILO Director of the Employment, Skills and Sustainable Enterprises Department Sukti Dasgupta. “Technological progress, including AI, must work for young people, not against them,” she added. The report has called for renewed action to help young people navigate an increasingly uncertain world of work. It recommended policy measures such as adopting a human-centred approach to AI governance, investing in quality education, lifelong learning and apprenticeships, and strengthening employment services and labour market institutions to support young people’s transitions into work; in particular, it places special focus on young women.
Published – August 12, 2026 11:07 pm IST
