Around one in six (16.5 %) of young people aged 20-34 were neither in employment nor in education and training (NEET) in the European Union (EU) in 2018. This corresponds to approximately 15 million young people.
The share of people not in employment, education or training (the NEET rate) for those aged 20-34 varied considerably across the EU Member States in 2018.
The lowest NEET rates for people aged 20–34 in 2018 were in Sweden (8.0%), the Netherlands (8.4%), Luxembourg (9.9%) and Malta (10.1%).
In contrast, the highest NEET rates were recorded in Italy (28.9%) and Greece (26.8%). In these two Member States, more than a quarter of all young people aged 20–34 were neither in employment nor in education and training.
There is a considerable difference in the NEET rate between young women and young men. For women aged 20-34, the NEET rate in 2018 was 20.9%, compared with 12.2% for 20-34 year old men.
The source dataset can be found here.
More information is available from the following articles:
- Statistics on young people neither in employment nor in education or training
- Early leavers from education and training
- Employment rates of recent graduates
- Participation of young people in education and the labour market
- Overview of the labour force survey
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