Global youth unemployment set to slip to 73 million in 2022: UN

The total global number of unemployed youths should fall to 73 million in 2022, down by two million from the year before, the United Nations said on Thursday. However, the figure is still six million higher than the pre-pandemic level of 2019, with the recovery in youth unemployment lagging behind the bounceback in other age groups, the UN's International Labour Organization said. Between 2019 and 2020, those aged 15 to 24 experienced a much higher percentage loss in employment than the rest of the labour market, the ILO said in a report.

Their 300-page "Global Employment Trends for Youth 2022" update on key youth labour market indicators and trends said the pandemic exacerbated the market challenges generally facing young people. Many dropped out of the labour force, or failed to enter it altogether, due to the difficulty of finding a job during Covid-19 lockdowns and while businesses were closing due to the pandemic. The report said that 27.4 percent of young women were projected to be in work in 2022, compared to 40.3 percent of young men.This gender gap "has shown little sign of closing over the past two decades", the ILO said.

Just launched!

Recovery in youth employment is still lagging.

The total number of unemployed youths is estimated to reach 73 million in 2022.

6 million above the pre-pandemic level of 2019.

Ahead of #YouthDay, check out our new report https://t.co/LQVHAfxEd7 pic.twitter.com/IYGRwUF3Kv

— International Labour Organization (@ilo) August 11, 2022

The global youth unemployment rate is projected to be 14.9 per cent in 2022. The report highlighted the differences in youth unemployment between the regions.In Europe and central Asia, the rate is predicted to be 16.4 per cent, "but the actual and potential shocks of the war in Ukraine are highly likely to affect the results". The rate in Asia and the Pacific is set to match the global average at 14.9 per cent; In Latin America, it should hit a "worrying" 20.5 per cent; while in North America, the figure should be 8.3 per cent. The 12.7 per cent rate in Africa "masks the fact that many youths have chosen to withdraw from the labour market altogether".But the Arab states have the highest and fastest-growing unemployment rate of young people worldwide at 24.8 per cent -- a figure that hits 42.5 per cent for young women in the region.