Global youth unemployment rises again: 67 million seeking work without success

A new International Labour Organization (ILO) report finds that the global youth unemployment rate for ages 15–24 stood at 12.4% in 2025, about 67 million young people. The share of youth not in employment, education, or training rose to 20%, about 257 million, an increase of 9 million compared to 2023. The gender gap remains deep: 27.4% of young women are idle, versus 13.1% of men. The largest increases were recorded in North Africa, North America, and Europe. The report warns about the exposure of medium-skilled occupations to artificial intelligence, with about 6.1% of jobs at high risk.

A new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) states that the global youth unemployment rate for ages 15–24 stood at 12.4% in 2025, representing about 67 million young people seeking work without success. The share of youth not in employment, education, or training reached 20%, about 257 million people – an increase of 9 million compared to 2023. At the peak of the COVID-19 crisis in 2020, the rate was 15.4%, and since then it declined to a low of 12.3% in 2023, now showing a moderate increase of 0.1 percentage points. The worrying trend was recorded in 8 out of 11 regions worldwide, with the largest increases in North Africa, North America, and Europe. The gender gap remains deep: 27.4% of young women are idle, versus 13.1% of men. The report notes that the employment rate among young men stands at 43.3%, about 13 percentage points higher than that of women (30.6%). In sub-Saharan Africa, the unemployment rate is relatively low (8.4%), but many are pushed into the informal economy. The report warns that about 6.1% of jobs held by young people are in occupations with high exposure to artificial intelligence, and if a tenth of them disappear, about 6.5 million young people would be pushed into the labor market. The report recommends that governments strengthen youth employment through gender-responsive macroeconomic policies, strengthen education systems, and invest in lifelong learning.