Chart: Youth unemployment in the OECD and China
In almost all countries of the world, youth unemployment is much higher than general unemployment.
Unfortunately, the pandemic has made matters worse. During a crucial period of their early careers, young people were denied entry-level jobs, destroying their ability to gain work experience and potentially impacting their long-term earnings.
Now, nearly three years after the coronavirus first emerged, young people from some countries, such as China, are struggling to find jobs. Using data from Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the National Bureau of Statistics of Chinawe plot the youth unemployment rate in 37 countries.
Ranking: Countries with the highest youth unemployment rates
At the top of the list, Spain It has the highest rates of youth unemployment in the OECD, with nearly one in three young people unable to find a job.
ℹ️ Jobless They are those who report that they are unemployed, available for work, and have taken active steps to find work in the past four weeks. the Youth unemployment rate It is calculated as a percentage of the youth labor force.
The mismatch between educational qualifications and the labor market has been cited as an important reason for Spain’s lack of educational qualifications Working adults Aged 15-24.
Meanwhile, the country’s reliance on temporary contracts and reliance on seasonal sectors – such as tourism – to generate employment are among the many reasons for persistently high reported unemployment rates among demographic groups.
Below is the youth unemployment rate for all OECD countries and China, as of the second quarter of 2023.
Rank | nation | Average youth Unemployment rate |
---|---|---|
1 | 🇪🇸 Spain | 27.4% |
2 | 🇨🇷 Costa Rica | 27.1% |
3 | 🇸🇪 Sweden | 24.9% |
4 | 🇬🇷 Greece | 23.6% |
5 | 🇨🇳 China | 21.3% |
6 | 🇮🇹 Italy | 21.3% |
7 | 🇨🇱 Chile | 19.8% |
8 | 🇱🇺 Luxembourg | 19.6% |
9 | 🇸🇰 Slovakia | 18.8% |
10 | 🇨🇴 Colombia | 18.7% |
11 | 🇵🇹 Portugal | 17.2% |
12 | 🇹🇷 Türkiye | 17.0% |
13 | 🇫🇷 France | 16.9% |
14 | 🇫🇮 Finland | 15.8% |
15 | 🇪🇪 Estonia | 15.6% |
16 | 🇧🇪 Belgium | 13.9% |
17 | 🇱🇹 Lithuania | 13.8% |
18 | 🇨🇿 Czech Republic | 13.7% |
19 | 🇭🇺 Hungary | 13.3% |
20 | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | 11.4% |
21 | 🇱🇻 Latvia | 11.0% |
22 | 🇵🇱 Poland | 10.3% |
23 | 🇳🇴 Norway | 10.2% |
24 | 🇨🇦 Canada | 10.2% |
25 | 🇦🇹 Austria | 9.6% |
26 | 🇩🇰 Denmark | 9.3% |
27 | 🇳🇱 Netherlands | 8.3% |
28 | 🇺🇸 United States | 8.0% |
29 | 🇦🇺 Australia | 7.8% |
30 | 🇮🇪 Ireland | 7.4% |
31 | 🇮🇸 Iceland | 7.3% |
32 | 🇩🇪 Germany | 6.1% |
33 | 🇸🇮 Slovenia | 5.6% |
34 | 🇰🇷 Korea | 5.4% |
35 | 🇮🇱 Israel | 5.3% |
36 | 🇲🇽 Mexico | 5.2% |
37 | 🇯🇵 Japan | 4.2% |
announced in june, China The youth unemployment rate rose to 21.3%, a rapid rise since May 2018, when it was less than 10%. the Chinese economy It is in the midst of a slowdown, and steadily rising youth unemployment rates have prompted the government to suspend age-specific unemployment data for the foreseeable future.
On the other side of the spectrum, in JapanOnly 4.2% of young people are unemployed. The main reason for this is Japan’s deflation population aging This made for a tight job market.
Youth unemployment: men versus women
In most OECD countries, it is common to see young males experiencing a higher unemployment rate compared to young females.
This contrasts with the cross direction All age groups In the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the unemployment rate is 6.3% for women and 6% for men.
We visualize the countries in the dataset with the largest gaps in youth unemployment below.
There is no single reason that explains this common gap.
Across the OECD, more young women are choosing this Higher Education Compared to young people, which may lead to better job opportunities. Meanwhile, women are overrepresented in the health and social care sectors – both of which are growing rapidly thanks to aging populations – which may make it easier for them to find jobs.
Why is it important to track youth unemployment?
Aside from being an indicator of general opportunities within a country, youth unemployment is a key metric to track, as it can be an indicator of future economic prospects.
High youth unemployment rates are also linked to brain drain within the country, as young people move elsewhere to find better jobs.
Finally, large increases in the numbers of unemployed youth have historically created the potential for civil unrest, making it a politically charged measure for governments to identify and monitor.