The report highlights that global youth unemployment is rising as stagnant economic growth and weak job creation increase barriers to job entry for young people and push more of them outside employment, education or training. 

Key Findings

• Global Youth Unemployment: Rose to 12.4% in 2025 equivalent to 67 million unemployed people aged 15 to 24 years.
• Rising NEET (Not in Employment, Education, or Training): Reached 20% (257 million) in 2025, up by 9 million since 2023.
• Gender Gap: Women constitute over two-thirds of NEET youth.
• AI Exposure:6.1% of youth jobs (15–29 years) are highly exposed to AI-driven task replacement.
• Youth - Adult Gap: Youth-to-adult unemployment ratio rose to 3.43 in 2025, making youth over 3 times more likely to be unemployed.

Challenges

• Informality & Insecurity: Nearly 9 in 10 young workers in low- and lower-middle-income countries are in informal jobs without adequate social protection or income security.
• Job Experience Inflation: Digital recruitment and automation are pushing unrealistic experience requirements onto entry-level jobs.
• Digital Divide: Limited digital adoption reduces AI displacement but also prevents developing economies from gaining AI-driven productivity benefits, widening global inequalities.
• Gender Barriers: High female NEET rates stem from unpaid care work, inadequate childcare and discrimination, especially in Southern Asia, North Africa and Arab States.