Youth unemployment across the OECD: how does the UK compare?

Nearly 11m young people are out of work across the OECD. How has youth unemployment changed and which countries are experiencing the worst rates?


Youth groups in Madrid protesting at the high unemployment rate, one of the highest across the OECD. Photograph: Susana Vera/Reuters


Youth unemployment across the OECD has risen alarmingly with nearly 11m 15-24 year olds out of work, according to latest figures.

The statistics published by the OECD, show youth unemployment reached a rate of 17.1% in March 2012, more than double the unemployment rate affecting the general population. Greece and Spain have fared worst with both reporting youth unemployment rates of over 50% of the total youth labour force. The data also shows that at least 23m young people in OECD countries are not in education, employment or training (NEETS).



Increasing youth unemployment has meant that now more than one in five young people in the labour market are out of work in France, Sweden,Poland, Ireland, Italy and the UK. The UK youth unemployment rate for March 2012 stood at 21.9% and we are increasingly catching up withEurope who have had high unemployment for a while.

The chart above shows the rates for youth unemployment for OECD countries in March 2012 and December 2007. It illustrates the rise in youth unemployment for many countries - only Germany, Israel, Turkey, Chile and Belgium recorded decreases.

Spain has had a dramatic rise from 17.4% in March 2007 to 51.1% in March 2012. Likewise Greece has increased from a youth unemployment rate of 21.6% in 2007 to 51.2% in March 2012. The chart below shows the rates for unemployment and inactivity for 15/16-24 year olds in 2011.



Turkey and Israel had high inactivity rates at over 20% but once again Spain and Greece recorded the highest unemployment rates for young people in 2011. The EU unemployment and inactivity rates for 2011 stood at 6.6%.

You can find rates for youth unemployment, inactivity and NEETs in the spreadsheet. There are also details of youth unemployment before the crisis at its peak and its latest value in OECD countries since January 2007.