New ILO report reveals there are 67 million unemployed young people
Global youth unemployment rose to 12.4% in 2025 amid stagnating economic growth and rapid technological change, according to a new report from the International Labour Organisation, which warned against underestimating the risks of AI on the job market.
The ILO's report revealed that there are 67 million unemployed people aged 15 to 24 years. At the same time, more than 257 million young people are not in employment, education, or training (NEET).
"The tentative, and short-lived, recovery in youth labour markets that followed the COVID-19 pandemic has stalled," the report read.
"With many more young people implicated and with youth disengagement harder to redress, the increasing trend in the youth NEET rate is especially worrisome."
Youth unemployment rates increased in eight of the world's 11 subregions between 2023 and 2025, with some of the sharpest rises recorded in higher-income economies.
In Northern America, the youth unemployment rate climbed from 8.3% in 2023 to 9.8% in 2025. In Northern, Southern, and Western Europe, the rate held at 15%, with 20 of the 29 countries in the subregion reporting worsening job prospects for young workers.
ILO Director-General Gilbert Houngbo warned about the impact of rising youth unemployment on the future of workplaces.
"A generation that cannot find decent work cannot build its future with confidence. When young people are locked out of quality employment, countries lose talent, productivity and social cohesion," Houngbo said.
"Creating decent jobs for young people is not just a social imperative, it is one of the smartest investments a country can make."
AI's impact on youth unemployment
Technological disruption, particularly the advance of artificial intelligence, is compounding the challenge, according to the findings.
The report estimates that 6.1% of jobs held by young workers aged 15 to 29 are in occupations highly exposed to AI-driven change, many of them the same middle-skilled clerical, administrative and service roles that have traditionally served as entry points into the labour market.
"If only 10% of the jobs exposed to AI were to disappear in full, it would translate into 5.6 million employed youth - largely in high-income countries - facing unemployment, changing jobs, or exiting the labour force," the ILO report said.
Previous and other reports have been divided over AI's impact on the job market, but there are experts who have pointed out that middle-skilled jobs are likely to disappear to give way to the creation of higher-value jobs.
Sukti Dasgupta, ILO Director of the Employment, Skills and Sustainable Enterprises Department, underscored the importance of not underestimating the risks of AI on employment.
"There is increasing noise around AI," Dasgupta said. "While the direct impact on jobs is still unclear, we must not be complacent and underestimate the risks."
Human-centred approach to AI needed
Dasgupta stressed the need to step up skills investment and lifelong training to allow young people to adapt to rapid technological changes.
"We need to step up our investment in skills, lifelong learning and social protection so that young people can adapt to change and seize new opportunities. Technological progress, including AI, must work for young people, not against them," she said.
The ILO research also suggested adopting a "human-centred approach to AI governance" to ensure that innovation creates opportunities for young people.
It also called for further investment in skills that combine technical competencies with social and cognitive capabilities, as well as the strengthening of lifelong learning systems.
"Rebuilding confidence among today's youth will require renewed investment in decent work, stronger labour market institutions, and policies capable of helping young people navigate an increasingly uncertain future while ensuring that technological progress and economic transformation work for, rather than against, the next generation," the report read.
