Young people entering the labor market are finding fewer secure openings, according to the International Labour Organization. Its report Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026, released on August 11, 2026, finds that the global unemployment rate for people aged 15 to 24 edged up to 12.4 percent in 2025. That is equal to 67 million young people without work.
The findings matter for employers and policymakers heading into the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Miami on December 14 and 15, 2026. Workforce and skills questions run through the business agenda, and the report gives the most recent global baseline for how young workers are faring.
More young people outside work and study
The ILO reports that 20 percent of young people were not in employment, education or training in 2025, up from 19.7 percent in 2023. That is more than 257 million people, an increase of 9 million since 2023.
The gap between young women and young men is wide. More than two out of every three young people in this group were women. The rate was 27.4 percent for young women and 13.1 percent for young men.
Unemployment rose between 2023 and 2025 in eight of 11 subregions. In Northern America, the youth unemployment rate rose from 8.3 percent to 9.8 percent. In Northern, Southern and Western Europe it reached 15 percent in 2025. The Arab States and Northern Africa had the highest rates, with at least one in three young people neither working nor studying.
Informal work and exposure to AI
Low unemployment in some developing economies does not mean secure jobs, the ILO says. Nearly nine in ten young workers aged 15 to 29 in low- and lower-middle-income countries are employed informally. In high-income countries the share is 11.7 percent.
The report also looks at technology. It finds that 6.1 percent of jobs held by people aged 15 to 29 are in occupations highly exposed to AI-related change. If only 10 percent of those jobs disappeared, about 5.6 million young workers, mostly in high-income countries, would face unemployment, a job change or leaving the labor force.
The ILO describes a hollowing out of middle-skilled work, especially clerical and administrative roles that overlap with AI-exposed occupations. Knowledge-based technical jobs in science, engineering, health and information technology grew in most countries.
What the ILO recommends
The report sets out four areas for action: creating jobs through macroeconomic and sectoral policy, preparing young people through education, apprenticeships and lifelong learning, supporting transitions through employment services, and widening social protection and rights at work. It also calls for a human-centered approach to AI governance and targeted support for young women.
ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo said: “A generation that cannot find decent work cannot build its future with confidence.”
