Worldwide, young people are entering the labor market for the first time at a particularly difficult moment, marked both by the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and the rise of geopolitical tensions. After reaching its lowest level in two decades two years ago, the global youth unemployment rate rose by one tenth in 2025, to 12.4%, according to the Global Trends in Youth Employment 2026: Back to the Future report, prepared by the International Labour Organization (ILO), which publishes this study biennially. This amounts to about 67 million unemployed people aged 15 to 24 worldwide.
Furthermore, the report points out that the global proportion of young people who neither study nor work – the group dubbed ninis during the last major financial crisis – also increased by three tenths, to 20%, compared to 2023 levels. This situation already affects more than 257 million people. Meanwhile, employment among adults did grow during this period, as unemployment among those over 24 years old fell from 3.7% to 3.6%.
The largest increases in youth unemployment occur in North Africa and North America
The worsening labor situation for young people is widespread: the youth unemployment rate increased in eight of the world’s eleven subregions, with the largest increases in North Africa, North America, and the countries of Northern, Southern, and Western Europe. Still, Arab countries recorded the highest youth unemployment rate, at 26.2%, followed by North African countries, with 22.6%. These two regions also concentrate the highest percentages of young people who neither study nor work, at 32.4% and 30.1%, respectively, nearly one third. “In these countries there is a long history of unemployment and every increase we observe is more worrying,” says Sara Elder, head of the Employment Analysis and Economic Policy Unit of the ILO’s Employment Policy Department.
In contrast, Sub-Saharan Africa is the region with the lowest youth unemployment rate, at 8.4%. Elder clarifies that, in this case, the figure largely reflects that young people cannot afford to be without work. In fact, in low- and lower-middle-income countries, nine out of ten young people have informal employment, which limits their access to a stable salary and social protection. “There is a relationship between the lack of opportunities [for young people] and migration,” adds Sukti Dasgupta, director of the ILO’s Employment, Skills and Sustainable Enterprises Department. This phenomenon, she admits, has been repeatedly observed in the departure of young North Africans to Europe in search of better economic prospects, as is the case with those who have arrived in Ceuta in recent days. However, Dasgupta insists that migration should be a “choice” and not a “necessity”; and that it can also ease demographic pressures in host countries.
6% of jobs held by under 29s are highly exposed to AI
Beyond the effects of geopolitics, the ILO report also points to AI as a threat to youth employment. The document estimates that 6.1% of jobs held by young people aged 15 to 29 are highly exposed to this technology, which amounts to 55.8 million people. This proportion is higher in the countries of Northern, Southern, and Western Europe (14.9%) and in North America (14.3%). In a scenario where AI causes the disappearance of 10% of jobs exposed to this transformation, the ILO calculates that 5.6 million young people would lose their jobs and have to seek opportunities in another sector, especially in high-income countries.
In this regard, the organization warns that there is a “hollowing out” of medium-skilled occupations, such as administrative tasks. These positions, more susceptible to being replaced by AI and which have often served as an entry point for young people into the labor market, are losing weight in hiring. “Although the direct impact on employment remains uncertain, we must not become complacent or underestimate the risks. Technological progress, including AI, must benefit young people, not harm them,” Dasgupta concludes.
Another gender gap to close
The ILO report makes it clear that the face of youth inactivity in much of the world is female. More than one in four young people who neither study nor work are women. The female rate stands at 27.4%, more than double that of men (13.1%). This gap widened even further in 2025, as the increase in this indicator was greater among women (0.5 percentage points) than among men (0.2). The organization argues that this difference is not so much explained by unequal access to education as by other “persistent barriers,” including unpaid care responsibilities at home, labor discrimination, and obstacles to accessing quality jobs. This situation is especially serious, the study’s authors note, in Arab countries, North Africa, and South Asia, where young women’s participation in the labor force is lowest.
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