A new analysis from the International Labour Organization (ILO) has sounded the alarm over a deteriorating global youth employment crisis, as stagnant economic expansion, lagging job creation, and shifting labor market dynamics raise barriers to stable work for young people and push a growing share out of employment, education, and formal training altogether.
The ILO’s flagship *Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026: Back to the future* report finds that the global youth unemployment rate climbed to 12.4% in 2025. That figure translates to 67 million young people between the ages of 15 and 24 actively seeking but unable to secure work. Parallel to this rise in unemployment, the global share of youth classified as Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) edged up to 20%, meaning more than 257 million young people are disconnected from pathways to long-term career success.
The data reveals that higher-income economies have seen some of the most dramatic surges in youth joblessness, dimming the professional aspirations of millions at the very start of their working lives. Between 2023 and 2025, youth unemployment rates rose across 8 of the world’s 11 geographic subregions, with slow global growth, insufficient job creation, persistent geopolitical tensions, and rapid technological transformation combining to push the global economy toward a generational youth jobs crisis.
“A 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,” said ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo. “Creating decent jobs for young people is not just a social imperative, it is one of the smartest investments a country can make.”
Breaking down regional and structural challenges, the report notes that higher-income economies are grappling with a different set of pressures than developing nations. In wealthier countries, the steady erosion of middle-skilled roles has closed off traditional entry points for young workers. Positions that long served as first stepping stones into the labor market—including clerical and administrative jobs, service and sales roles, manufacturing positions, and many entry-level technical occupations—are shrinking rapidly, making it far harder for young people to launch stable, long-term careers.
In developing economies, by contrast, the core challenge is generating enough decent work to absorb fast-growing youth populations. While official unemployment rates often appear lower in these contexts, that figure masks widespread labor market instability: most young people cannot afford to remain unemployed, so they take up informal or precarious work that offers little security. Currently, nearly 9 out of 10 young workers aged 15 to 29 in low- and lower-middle-income countries hold informal jobs, cutting off access to stable incomes and basic social protection. Sub-Saharan Africa faces uniquely acute pressures, with rapid demographic growth outpacing the creation of decent roles, pushing a growing share of young people into NEET status.
The Arab States and Northern Africa hold the unenviable position of recording the world’s highest youth unemployment rates. In 2025, youth unemployment hit 26.2% in the Arab States and 22.6% in Northern Africa, with at least one in three young people in both subregions falling into NEET status.
Rapid technological change, particularly the rise of artificial intelligence, is also reshaping youth employment prospects in every region. The report estimates that 6.1% of jobs held by young people aged 15 to 29 are in occupations at high risk of disruption from AI-driven transformation. Many of these at-risk roles overlap with the middle-skilled entry-level positions that have already shrunk since 2023, especially clerical and administrative work. At the same time, demand is growing for skilled workers in knowledge-based technical fields including science, public health, and engineering, highlighting a critical gap between the skills young people hold and the skills that evolving labor markets demand.
To reverse these troubling trends and rebuild pathways to decent work for young people, the report calls for coordinated, renewed policy action across four core areas. First, it urges governments and global stakeholders to expand investment in quality education, accessible lifelong learning, and structured apprenticeship programs that align young people’s skills with current labor market needs. Second, it calls for strengthening public employment services and labor market institutions to support smooth school-to-work transitions, with targeted support for young women who face disproportionate barriers to employment. Third, the report emphasizes expanding comprehensive social protection and upholding core labor rights, particularly for young people in vulnerable and informal work arrangements.