Global youth unemployment rose in 2025 for the first time since the post-pandemic recovery, with weak economic growth, geopolitical tensions and sluggish job creation making it harder for young people to enter the workforce, according to an International Labour Organisation (ILO) report. The global unemployment rate among 15-24-year-olds rose to 12.4 per cent in 2025 from 12.3 per cent in 2023, leaving 67 million young people without work.

The ILO also warned that artificial intelligence could add to the pressure on an already fragile youth jobs market. The deterioration extends beyond unemployment. The global share of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) rose from 19.7 per cent in 2023 to 20 per cent in 2025. “This translated into an increase of 9 million more young people in NEET status since 2023, bringing the total to 257 million in 2025,” the report said.

The reversal is significant because the broader global job market has remained relatively resilient. Rather than pointing to a general collapse in employment, the figures highlight the particular difficulty that young people have faced in securing their first foothold in the labour market. Youth unemployment rose in eight of the world’s 11 sub-regions between 2023 and 2025, indicating that the deterioration is not confined to a handful of economies.

Young people are particularly vulnerable to slower economic growth because they typically have less experience and weaker professional networks. At the same time, entry-level jobs – including manufacturing, clerical, administrative and sales positions – have become scarcer, narrowing the traditional entry points into the workforce. That has created a potentially damaging cycle in which young people struggle to obtain their first work experience while employers increasingly expect skills that can be difficult to acquire without workplace exposure. “A shrinkage of jobs associated with middle-skilled occupations means longer job queues and growing unemployment for young people with secondary-level education that seek them,” the report said.

Asia’s jobs challenge

The problem is particularly important for developing economies, where large numbers of young people enter the labour market each year. The ILO found that the Arab States recorded the world’s highest youth unemployment rate at 26.2 per cent, followed by Northern Africa at 22.6 per cent. Youth unemployment is also elevated across several developing countries, including India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, South Africa and Kenya.

South Asia has a large informal economy, meaning many young people who are employed work without stable contracts or adequate social protection. The ILO report points to a broader problem than unemployment alone: finding employment that provides adequate income, stability and social protection. There is some divergence between the global picture and India’s latest official data. India’s Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2025 report found that the unemployment rate among young people aged 15-29 fell from 10.3 per cent in 2024 to 9.9 per cent in 2025. Urban youth unemployment stood at 13.6 per cent, compared with 8.3 per cent in rural areas.

The ILO’s global report does not provide a specific unemployment figure for India, and its global youth unemployment measure covers those aged 15-24, while India’s PLFS figure covers those aged 15-29. The two sets of figures therefore should not be treated as directly comparable.

Richer economies are not immune

North America and Europe remain below the world’s worst youth-unemployment hotspots, but they have also seen deterioration. In North America, the youth unemployment rate rose from 8.3 per cent in 2023 to 9.8 per cent in 2025. In northern, southern and western Europe, it stood at 15 per cent in 2025.The increase in wealthier economies reinforces the ILO’s warning that the problem is not simply a lack of jobs but a narrowing pathway into employment for younger workers.

The decline in middle-skilled occupations – particularly clerical, administrative, sales and manufacturing roles – is removing jobs that have traditionally provided an entry point for young people leaving secondary education or university.

AI adds another layer of risk

The pressure on entry-level employment could intensify as artificial intelligence reshapes workplaces. The ILO estimates that 6.1 per cent of jobs currently held by young workers aged 15-29 are in occupations most exposed to AI-related changes. If only 10 per cent of those jobs disappeared entirely, around 5.6 million young workers could face unemployment, career changes or leave the labour force, with the impact concentrated mainly in high-income countries.

The ILO has cautioned that the long-term impact of AI remains uncertain, but said the risks should not be underestimated. AI could also create demand for new skills and employment, particularly as high-skilled sectors such as science, engineering, healthcare and information technology continue to expand in many countries. For developing economies, however, the immediate challenge is more basic. Many young people cannot afford prolonged unemployment and instead take whatever work is available.

Nearly nine in 10 young workers in low- and lower-middle-income countries remain in informal employment, leaving them without adequate labour and social protections.The result is a youth employment problem that is no longer simply about how many jobs economies create, but about whether they create enough secure, productive and accessible jobs to give young people a viable entry into working life.