Youth unemployment
Unemployment rate: ages 15-19 and 20-24 compared with all ages, %
About this metric
The unemployment rate is the share of the labour force that is unemployed. The chart compares young people aged 15-19 and 20-24 with all ages, from 2008 to 2024.
Young people are hit harder. In 2024 the rate was 13.4% overall, 26.6% for ages 20-24 (about twice as high) and 29.8% for ages 15-19 (more than twice as high).
Overall unemployment was 19.0% in 2010 and again in 2018, then fell to 12.4% in 2023 and was 13.4% in 2024. For ages 20-24 it fell from 37.7% in 2011 to 23.0% in 2023. The rate for ages 15-19 swings widely from year to year (59.7% in 2009, 25.6% in 2015, 45.6% in 2023), so its trend should be read with caution.
The labour force survey was revised in 2018, so figures before and after are not strictly comparable.