The report examines recent developments in youth labour markets worldwide and provides the latest global and regional analysis of youth employment trends and prospects.
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The Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026: Back to the future report shows that the global youth unemployment rate rose to 12.4 per cent in 2025, equivalent to 67 million unemployed people aged 15 to 24 years. At the same time, the share of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) increased slightly to 20 per cent, affecting more than 257 million people. Some of the sharpest rises in youth unemployment have been in higher-income economies, frustrating the aspirations of millions of young people at the start of their working lives.
Between 2023 and 2025, youth unemployment rates increased in eight of the world’s 11 subregions, as slowing economic growth, weak job creation, geopolitical tensions and rapid technological change push countries toward a new youth jobs crisis.
The report calls for renewed action to help young people navigate an increasingly uncertain world of work. Key policy measures include:
- adopting a human-centred approach to AI governance, ensuring that innovation creates opportunities rather than deepening inequalities;
- investing in quality education, lifelong learning and apprenticeships;
- strengthening employment services and labour market institutions to support young people’s transitions into work, targeting especially young women;
- expanding social protection and ensuring rights at work, particularly for young people in vulnerable situations; and
- creating more decent job opportunities through supportive macroeconomic and sectoral policies.
The report concludes that the challenge is not only to create more jobs for young people, but to ensure that these jobs provide security, dignity and opportunities for successful transitions into adulthood.
