Global youth unemployment rose to 12.4% in 2025, leaving about 67 million people aged 15 to 24 out of work, according to a new International Labour Organisation report. The ILO’s Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026: Back to the Future attributes the rise to slowing economic growth, weak job creation, geopolitical tensions and rapid technological change.
The increase reverses recent progress, after the youth unemployment rate had fallen to its lowest level in over two decades in 2023. The share of young people not in employment, education or training also edged up to 20% in 2025 from 19.7% in 2023, bringing the global NEET total to about 257 million, an increase of 9 million since 2023.
The report found that youth unemployment rose in eight of the world’s 11 subregions, with some of the sharpest increases in higher-income economies. South Asia, the subregion covering India, recorded a youth unemployment rate of 14.3%, above the global average. The Arab States and Northern Africa posted the highest rates at 26.2% and 22.6%, respectively, while Northern America climbed to 9.8% from 8.3% in 2023.
Technology, including artificial intelligence, features prominently in the findings. The ILO estimates that 6.1% of jobs held by people aged 15 to 29 sit in occupations highly exposed to AI-related change, many of them middle-skilled clerical and administrative roles that have been shrinking since 2023. At the same time, demand is growing in some knowledge-based technical fields across science, health and engineering.
The report also noted rising anxiety among young workers themselves. It observed that young people are increasingly voicing fear that technology will replace their jobs and block their chances at stable income, and it called on governments to take a more human-centred approach to AI, invest in skills and modernise employment services.
