OIT - Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026

1 Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026 Back to the futureInternational Labour Office • Geneva Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026 Back to the future© International Labour Organization 2026. First published 2026. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. See: creativecommons.org/licences/ by/4.0. The user is allowed to reuse, share (copy and redistribute), adapt (remix, transform and build upon the original work) as detailed in the licence. The user must clearly credit the ILO as the source of the material and indicate if changes were made to the original content. Use of the emblem, name and logo of the ILO is not permitted in connection with translations, adaptations or other derivative works. Attribution – The user must indicate if changes were made and must cite the work as follows: ILO, Global employment trends for youth 2026: Back to the future, Geneva: International Labour Office, 2026. © ILO. Translations – In case of a translation of this work, the following disclaimer must be added along with the attribution: This is a translation of a copyrighted work of the International Labour Organization (ILO). This translation has not been prepared, reviewed or endorsed by the ILO and should not be considered an official ILO translation. The ILO disclaims all responsibility for its content and accuracy. Responsibility rests solely with the author(s) of the translation. Adaptations – In case of an adaptation of this work, the following disclaimer must be added along with the attribution: This is an adaptation of a copyrighted work of the International Labour Organization (ILO). This adaptation has not been prepared, reviewed or endorsed by the ILO and should not be considered an official ILO adaptation. The ILO disclaims all responsibility for its content and accuracy. Responsibility rests solely with the author(s) of the adaptation. Third-party materials – This Creative Commons licence does not apply to non-ILO copyright materials included in this publication. If the material is attributed to a third party, the user of such material is solely responsible for clearing

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ISBN: 9789220437605 (print); 9789220437612 (accessible PDF) DOI: https://doi.org/10.54394/00033788 youth employment / labour market analysis / decent work / future of work

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Cover: © ILO / Garment employees are seen smiling during their lunch break in Indonesia.

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Cover: © ILO / Garment employees are seen smiling during their lunch break in Indonesia.

Produced by the Publications Production and Publishing Management Unit (PRODOC) of the ILO. The ILO endeavours to use paper sourced from forests managed in an environmentally sustainable and socially responsible manner.

Code: DESIGN/PPM/PMSERViiiiii Preface It is my privilege to present the 2026 edition of the Global Employment Trends for Youth report. Since its first publication in 2004, the report has provided insights into the latest available global and regional youth labour market indicators. It also serves as a vehicle for advocating more and better investment in policy areas that boost youth employment and ease young people’s pathways to decent jobs and productive adulthood. Its findings inform policy dialogue, foster meaningful youth engagement and partnerships, and inspire programme initiatives that translate evidence into action – supporting young people directly, strengthening institutions and guiding the design and implementation of national policies aimed at improving youth employment outcomes.

This edition comes at an inflection point for young people. The progress we have seen in youth employment since the COVID-19 pandemic has come to an abrupt halt. This reversal of fortunes is taking place at a time of great uncertainty and fragility in the global economy. Growth remains subdued, uncertainty is elevated, inflationary pressures persist, and new risks associated with artificial intelligence (AI) are emerging. None of this bodes well for young people. We know only too well that when economies falter and job creation stagnates, it is always aspiring young jobseekers who are most impacted. This report highlights the recent deterioration in youth employment in terms of both the quantity and quality of jobs. It points to the bumpy road that lies ahead for today’s young people as they struggle to access decent work. There are still millions of young people – primarily young women – who are not accessing employment, education or training. Worse, the numbers are increasing. The report sounds the alarm on the increased pressures from insufficient job creation that are pushing a growing number of young people into inactivity, prolonged job searches that can lead to discouragement, or informal employment. All too often, youth find themselves in jobs that do not match their qualifications or

the alarm on the increased pressures from insufficient job creation that are pushing a growing number of young people into inactivity, prolonged job searches that can lead to discouragement, or informal employment. All too often, youth find themselves in jobs that do not match their qualifications or aspirations, or that fail to provide the labour and social protection needed to reduce income insecurity. Especially troubling is the erosion of middle-skilled jobs, once a haven for young people seeking their first job after secondary school or technical training. Alongside these unfavourable labour market outcomes for young people, comes the increasing noise around AI. While the evidence of its impact on jobs remains uncertain, we must not be complacent and underestimate the risks. Anxieties among young people are high. Given the associated costs that come with insecurity in the labour market, including on the well-being of young people and their prospects for long-term productivity and income gains, this report stands as a call to action. It sends a clear message about the urgency of doing more in the area of policies for employment (both wage employment and self-employment) and for labour and social protection to reassure young people that their concerns are being heard. With this report, we call on all stakeholders – governments, employers, trade unions, international organizations, civil society and youth leaders – to intensify their efforts and work together on bold, adaptive policies that can get young people back to the future, where pathways once again lead to decent work. Sukti Dasgupta Director Employment, Skills and Sustainable Enterprises Departmentiv | Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026 | Contents Preface iii Acknowledgements ix Acronyms and abbreviations x Executive summary xiv

1. Global and regional outlook for youth labour markets 1 1.1. Youth unemployment 1 1.1.1. Youth unemployment on the rise 2

1.1.2. Worsening youth unemployment in most subregions 2 1.1.3. Youth unemployment burden exceeds that of adults 7 1.1.4. Certain youth struggle more in the job search 8 1.1.5. What will the next years bring? 13 1.2. Not in employment, education or training 15 1.2.1. NEET rates are rising again globally and across all subregions but one 15 1.2.2. The NEET storyline is gendered 16 1.2.3. What will the next years bring? 17 1.3. Youth employment 19 1.3.1. Youth employment grows, but slower than the youth population 19 1.3.2. A hollowing out of medium-skilled jobs for youth 21 1.3.3. What will the next years bring? 24 1.4. Employed and thriving? The job and income security storyline 25

2. What is behind stagnating progress in youth labour markets? 31 2.1. The macro effects 31 2.1.1. The capacity of economies to create jobs for youth is declining 31 2.1.2. Conflicts are still on the rise 33 2.2. The AI in the room 34 2.3. Job experience inflation 38 2.4. Summary 38v

3. Promoting decent work for youth in turbulent times 43 3.1. Introduction 43 3.2. The standards of a youth employment policy package 44 3.3. Adaptive policies to ease impacts of future-of-work disruptions 48

References 55 Annexes 61

A. Additional tables and figures 62

B. Media sentiment, methodology and data context 75vi | Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026 | X List of figures 1.1. Global youth unemployment (million) and youth unemployment rate

(percentage), by sex, 2005–25 2 1.2. Youth unemployment rate, 2025 (percentage) 3 1.3. Change in youth unemployment rate, by subregion and sex, 2023–25 (percentage point) 4

(percentage), by sex, 2005–25 2 1.2. Youth unemployment rate, 2025 (percentage) 3 1.3. Change in youth unemployment rate, by subregion and sex, 2023–25 (percentage point) 4 1.4. Composition of youth population dynamics according to changes in the labour market categories of inactivity, employment and unemployment, by subregion, 2023–25 (thousand) 5 1.5. Number of countries in 2025 with youth unemployment rates above/below their 2023 rates, by subregion 6 1.6. Ratio of youth-to-adult unemployment rates, by subregion, 2023–25 7 1.7. Employment-to-population ratio in Canada, by selected age group, Q1 2023 to Q1 2026 (percentage) 10 1.8. Global youth NEET (million) and youth NEET rate (percentage), by sex, 2005–25 15 1.9. Youth NEET rate, by subregion, 2023–25 (percentage) 16 1.10. Ratio of the NEET rate of young women to the NEET rate of young men, by subregion, 2016 and 2025 17 1.11. Global youth employment (million) and youth employment-to-population ratio (percentage), by sex, 2005–25 19 1.12. Distribution of the youth population in employment, NEET and in school or training, by sex, 2005–25 (percentage) 21 1.13. Change in youth employment (aged 20 to 29), by technical-related occupational grouping and country income group, 2023–25 (or nearest year) (percentage) 23 1.14. Sh are of total young adult employment (aged 25 to 29) in insecure categories of work, 2025 (or nearest year) (percentage), and change in share, 2023–25 (or nearest year) (percentage point), by country income group 26

1.14. Sh are of total young adult employment (aged 25 to 29) in insecure categories of work, 2025 (or nearest year) (percentage), and change in share, 2023–25 (or nearest year) (percentage point), by country income group 26 1.15. I nformal employment among youth aged 15 to 29, by country income group, 2025 (or nearest year) (percentage), and change from 2023–25 (or nearest year) (percentage point) 28 2.1. Skills distribution among online job postings (percentage) 37 3.1. Policy package for the promotion of youth employment 44 A.1. Unemployment rate in selected countries or territories, age groups 20–24 and 25–54, 2015–24 or 2016–25 (percentage) 73vii X List of tables ES.1. T rends in youth unemployment rate and youth NEET rate, by subregion and country income group, 2023–25 xv 1.1. Share of unemployed (aged 20 to 29) who are first-time entrants, by subregion, 2016 and 2025 or nearest year (percentage) 9 1.2. Youth unemployment rate (aged 15 to 29), by level of education, 2025 (percentage), and change in rate, 2023–25 (percentage point) 11 1.3. Summary of changes in youth unemployment rate by level of educational attainment, by subregion, 2023–25 12 1.4. Projected youth unemployment rate (percentage) and level (million), by subregion and country income group, 2025–27 14 1.5. Projected youth NEET rate (percentage) and level (million), by subregion and country income group, 2025–27 18 1.6. Change in youth employment (aged 20 to 29) by occupational skills level, by subregion and country income group, 2023–25 (percentage) 22

by subregion and country income group, 2025–27 18 1.6. Change in youth employment (aged 20 to 29) by occupational skills level, by subregion and country income group, 2023–25 (percentage) 22 1.7. Projected youth employment levels and employment-to-population ratios, by subregion and country income group, 2025–27 24 2.1. Evolution of annual GDP growth (percentage) and the difference between total employment growth (aged 15 and over) and youth population growth (aged 15 to 24) (percentage point), 2023–27 32 2.2. Scenario of job transitions for young people in AI-exposed occupations 36 2.3. Average media tone related to youth employment, by region, 2023–26 39 A.1. Youth unemployment rate, by sex, subregion and country income group, 2005 and 2016–27 (percentage) 62 A.2. Youth employment-to-population ratio, by sex, subregion and country income group, 2005 and 2016–27 (percentage) 65 A.3. Youth NEET rate, by sex, subregion and country income group, 2005 and 2016–27 (percentage) 68 A.4. ISCO-08 occupations identified with the highest AI exposure rating (gradients 3 and 4) 71viii | Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026 | X List of boxes 1.1. From subregional to country-level trends 6 1.2. The dearth of teenage work in Canada 10 1.3. Multiple job holding is on the rise 27 1.4. Increased pessimism among young jobseekers 29 2.1. Partnership for improving prospects for forcibly displaced persons and host communities, with a focus on youth (PROSPECTS) 34 2.2. Youth need skills in bundles to help them navigate a changing world 37 3.1. Demand-side interventions should target directly (and with urgency) the creation of jobs for young women 45

and host communities, with a focus on youth (PROSPECTS) 34 2.2. Youth need skills in bundles to help them navigate a changing world 37 3.1. Demand-side interventions should target directly (and with urgency) the creation of jobs for young women 45 3.2. The “what” and “what works” of active labour market programmes 46 3.3. What do young people expect from policy support measures? 49 3.4. Youth unemployment protection: Extending coverage and facilitating participation in the labour market 52ix Acknowledgements The 2026 edition of the Global Employment Trends for Youth (GET for Youth) was prepared under the oversight of Sara Elder (ILO Employment, Labour Markets and Youth Branch) and written by Sara Elder and Steven Tobin, with contributions from David Bescond, Chiara Curcio, Sergio Iriarte Quezada, Eesha Moitra, Céline Peyron Bista and Chaoping Zhang. The authors wish to acknowledge the helpful comments and suggestions on the draft provided by ILO colleagues Juvenal Arcanjo Dengo, Jonas Bausch, Christina Behrendt, Francesco Carella, Inviolata Chinyangarara, Augustine Erameh, Elisenda Estruch Puertas, Christine Hofmann, Phu Huynh, Steven Kapsos, Takaaki Kizu, Stefan Kühn, Ali Madai Boukar, Kroum Markov, Gerson Martinez, Abdelmalik Jamae Muhummed, Albert William Okal, Yves Perardel, Bárbara Perrot, Miguel Sanchez Martinez, Theo Sparreboom, Nadia Touihri, Christian Viegelahn and Felix Weidenkaff, and also from two anonymous external reviewers. The manuscript benefited from the oversight of Dorothea Schmidt-Klau, Chief of the Employment, Labour Markets and Youth Branch, and Sukti Dasgupta, Director of the Employment, Skills and Sustainable Enterprises Department. The analysis provided in the GET for Youth series is only as good as the available input data. We take this opportunity to thank all institutions involved in the collection and dissemination of labour market

Employment, Labour Markets and Youth Branch, and Sukti Dasgupta, Director of the Employment, Skills and Sustainable Enterprises Department. The analysis provided in the GET for Youth series is only as good as the available input data. We take this opportunity to thank all institutions involved in the collection and dissemination of labour market information, including national statistical agencies and the ILO Department of Statistics. Finally, we would like to express our thanks to colleagues in the ILO Publications Production and Publishing Management Unit (PRODOC) – for providing production project management, graphic design (including the cover), copy-editing, typesetting and proofreading – and to colleagues in the Department of Communication and Public Information (DCOMM) for their support in disseminating the report.x | Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026 | x Acronyms and abbreviations AI artificial intelligence ALMP active labour market policy EPR employment-to-population ratio GDELT Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone GDP gross domestic product ICT information and communications technology ISCO International Standard Classification of Occupations MJH multiple job holding NEET not in employment, education or training OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development PES public employment services UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees YUR youth unemployment ratexixii © ILO/Zelalem Alemenew Destaxiii NP Executive summaryxiv | Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026 | xiv X Executive summary 1 This statement reflects the differing degree of labour market attachment. A young person who is unemployed is, by definition, available to work and actively seeking work. This means they maintain an attachment to the labour market. However, a young person in NEET status is outside the labour market – neither working nor seeking work and not engaged in education or training. They are both more numerous than unemployed youth and more challenging to draw back into the folds of economic activity or schooling through policies in programmes. A rocky road for young people and labour market entry … The tentative, and short-lived, recovery in youth labour markets that followed the COVID-19 pandemic has stalled. This edition of the Global Employment Trends for Youth (GET for Youth) finds that slowing global

schooling through policies in programmes. A rocky road for young people and labour market entry … The tentative, and short-lived, recovery in youth labour markets that followed the COVID-19 pandemic has stalled. This edition of the Global Employment Trends for Youth (GET for Youth) finds 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. After reaching its lowest level in more than two decades in 2023, the global unemployment rate of young people aged 15 to 24 edged up to 12.4 per cent in 2025, equalling 67 million unemployed young people worldwide. The global share of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) is also again on the rise, reaching 20 per cent in 2025 from 19.7 per cent in 2023. This translated into an increase of 9 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,1 the increasing trend in the youth NEET rate is especially worrisome. … with rising youth unemployment rates in almost all the world’s regions. Unlike in previous editions of the GET for Youth, where the trends on the main labour market indicators varied widely across subregions, the worsening results on job entry for young people have been almost universal over the past couple of years. The youth unemployment rate rose between 2023 and 2025 in 8 of the 11 subregions, as well as in high-income, lower-middle-income and low-income countries (table ES.1). 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. And while Latin America and the Caribbean stood out as the only region to show a decline in both the youth

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. And while Latin America and the Caribbean stood out as the only region to show a decline in both the youth unemployment rate and youth NEET rate, further analysis showed that results were driven in part by declining youth population sizes and that most countries in the subregion showed worsening trends in youth labour market engagement. Gender gaps remain entrenched; young men still have the advantage in labour market entry. The NEET challenge has a female face in almost all subregions of the world. Still in 2025, more than two out of every three youth in NEET status were women and, at 27.4 per cent, the NEET rate of young women was more than double that of young men (at 13.1 per cent). Globally, the increase in the NEET rate since 2023 was slightly steeper for young women than young men (rising by 0.5 percentage points and 0.2 percentage points, respectively), thus expanding the gender gap even further. On the contrary, the gender gap in the share of young people in employment narrowed slightly. Yet, the employment-to-population ratio of young men (at 43.3 per cent) was still nearly 13 percentage points higher than that of young women (at 30.6 per cent) in 2025. This gap is not related to unequal access to education – young men and women are now on par when it comes to school enrolment Subregions Country income groups Rising YUR, rising NEET rate Arab States Eastern Asia Northern Africa Northern America Northern, Southern and Western Europe Southern Asia South-Eastern Asia and the Pacific Sub-Saharan Africa High-income Lower-middle-income Low-income Declining YUR, rising NEET rate Central and Western Asia Eastern Europe Upper-middle-income Declining YUR, null or declining NEET rate Latin America and the Caribbean –

Northern, Southern and Western Europe Southern Asia South-Eastern Asia and the Pacific Sub-Saharan Africa High-income Lower-middle-income Low-income Declining YUR, rising NEET rate Central and Western Asia Eastern Europe Upper-middle-income Declining YUR, null or declining NEET rate Latin America and the Caribbean – X Table ES.1. Trends in youth unemployment rate and youth NEET rate, by subregion and country income group, 2023–25

Key: NEET = not in employment, education or training; YUR = youth unemployment rate.Executive summary xv rates – but rather to the significantly higher propensity of young women to be in NEET status due to

(out-of-school) inactivity. Persistent barriers related to unpaid care responsibilities, discrimination and limited access to quality employment continue to constrain the economic participation of young women, particularly in the Arab States, Northern Africa and Southern Asia. The struggle of young people to access decent work is discouraging youth labour market participation in developing subregions. The Arab States and Northern Africa are consistently the subregions with the world’s highest youth unemployment rates. In the two subregions, more than one in five economically active young people struggle to find work (youth unemployment rates of 26.2 per cent and 22.6 per cent, respectively) and at least one in three young people is in NEET status (NEET rates of 32.4 per cent and 30.1 per cent, respectively). When these indicators continue to rise from already high levels, it signals a deepening of the already well-rooted structural barriers that push young talent – young women particularly – to the margins of productive society. The situation of young people in sub-Saharan Africa represents another extreme. The youth unemployment rate of the subregion was 8.4 per cent in 2025, 4 percentage points below the global average. The NEET rate in the subregion, however, was just above the global average at 21.6 per cent. Low (but rising) youth unemployment rates in sub-Saharan Africa reflect the context in which few young

average. The NEET rate in the subregion, however, was just above the global average at 21.6 per cent. Low (but rising) youth unemployment rates in sub-Saharan Africa reflect the context in which few young people can afford to be without work. Most young people need to generate an income and have to take up informal jobs that fall outside the realm of social protection and job (or income) stability. Nearly nine in ten young workers in lowand lower-middle-income countries (many of which are in sub-Saharan Africa) remain in informal employment, and two in three were still in a form of insecure work (as own-account workers or temporary paid workers) as young adults (aged 25 to 29). The population pressure in sub-Saharan Africa is notably heavy. Nearly two thirds of the increase in the global youth population now accrues to the subregion, and it will continue in the near future. With millions of young labour market entrants already competing for a limited number of decent jobs and with population pressures continuing, the rising NEET rate in sub-Saharan Africa is a signal of growing youth discouragement. A rocky road for young people and labour market entry … The tentative, and short-lived, recovery in youth labour markets that followed the COVID-19 pandemic has stalled. This edition of the Global Employment Trends for Youth (GET for Youth) finds 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. After reaching its lowest level in more than two decades in 2023, the global unemployment rate of young people aged 15 to 24 edged up to 12.4 per cent in 2025, equalling 67 million unemployed young people worldwide. The global share of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) is also again on the rise, reaching 20 per cent in 2025 from 19.7 per cent in 2023. This translated into an increase of 9 million more young people in NEET status since 2023, bringing the total to 257 million in 2025. With

again on the rise, reaching 20 per cent in 2025 from 19.7 per cent in 2023. This translated into an increase of 9 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,1 the increasing trend in the youth NEET rate is especially worrisome. … with rising youth unemployment rates in almost all the world’s regions. Unlike in previous editions of the GET for Youth, where the trends on the main labour market indicators varied widely across subregions, the worsening results on job entry for young people have been almost universal over the past couple of years. The youth unemployment rate rose between 2023 and 2025 in 8 of the 11 subregions, as well as in high-income, lower-middle-income and low-income countries (table ES.1). 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. And while Latin America and the Caribbean stood out as the only region to show a decline in both the youth unemployment rate and youth NEET rate, further analysis showed that results were driven in part by declining youth population sizes and that most countries in the subregion showed worsening trends in youth labour market engagement. Gender gaps remain entrenched; young men still have the advantage in labour market entry. The NEET challenge has a female face in almost all subregions of the world. Still in 2025, more than two out of every three youth in NEET status were women and, at 27.4 per cent, the NEET rate of young women was more than double that of young men (at 13.1 per cent). Globally, the increase in the NEET rate since 2023 was slightly steeper for young women than young men (rising by 0.5 percentage

women was more than double that of young men (at 13.1 per cent). Globally, the increase in the NEET rate since 2023 was slightly steeper for young women than young men (rising by 0.5 percentage points and 0.2 percentage points, respectively), thus expanding the gender gap even further. On the contrary, the gender gap in the share of young people in employment narrowed slightly. Yet, the employment-to-populatio