Europe and Central Asia’s youth unemployment and NEET rates fall below pre-pandemic numbers

The number of 15-to-24-year-olds in Europe and Central Asia who are not in employment, education or training (NEET), as well as youth unemployment have decreased to below pre-pandemic levels.

This was confirmed by the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Global Employment Trends for Youth 2024, which indicated that 2023’s youth unemployment rate stood at 14 per cent, 1.4 percentage points below the rate in 2019.

Similarly, the youth NEET rate stood at 13.1 per cent, one percentage point below the registered rate in 2019.

The report anticipates slightly higher unemployment levels in 2024 (from 14 per cent to 14.1 per cent) before they decrease to 13.8 per cent in 2025.

When analysing Northern, Southern and Western Europe, the report notes that this subregion – which includes Malta – has weathered the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This was attributed to “the swift discretionary action of governments along with the pre-existence of the Youth Guarantee Framework.”

Despite a substantial increase in youth unemployment rates between 2019 and 2020, by 2022 (14.2 per cent) it was already well below 2019’s 14.9 per cent rate.

Nonetheless, the report points out that the youth unemployment rate in the subregion has been creeping back up, “raising some concerns.”

In contrast, the subregion’s NEET rate is the world’s lowest. Already at 11 per cent in 2019, the youth NEET rate decreased nearly four percentage points from 13.8 in 2013.

On a positive note, gender gaps are smaller in comparison to other subregions. “It is the only, among the world’s subregions, to have had a higher youth NEET rate for young men than young women in 2023,” the report adds.

When comparing all the subregions, the report revealed that only Eastern Europe saw an increase, rather than a decrease, in the share of youth NEETs.

This includes countries like Romania, Hungary, Moldova, Albania and Serbia, among others.

Consequently, the employment rate for youths remains low in the region. Only one in four young people (25.3 per cent) was employed in 2024. This figure is considered to be one of the lowest rates across all the world’s regions.

On the other hand, gender disparities in the youth labour market in this region are relatively small in comparison. For instance, Central and Western Asia, although registering a slight improvement, has a “sizable gender gap” that disadvantages young women.

This can be further indicated in the NEET rate of young women, which stood at 1.8 times higher than that of young men in 2023, at 24.1 per cent and 13.4 per cent respectively.

In general, the report indicates a higher disparity in youth employment outcomes based on educational attainment. Those with lower levels of education, often linked to lower-income households, experience higher NEET rates compared to their peers with higher degrees, and therefore are more likely to be employed in low-income jobs.

The disadvantages of the less-educated youths have worsened over time. For instance, the youth NEET rate of a person with basic education was 30 percentage points higher than that of a tertiary-educated young person in 2023, compared to a difference of 25 points in 2003.

About the report

This report marks ILO’s 20th anniversary publication of the GET for Youth. Over the past two decades, the reports investigated the where, why and how of young people’s labour market vulnerabilities, and highlighted the policy measures and interventions that “aim to support youth job creation and effectively set young people on the pathway to a bright future of work.”