The latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that around 1 in 7 (13.5%) young people aged 16 to 24 are not in education, employment or training (NEET).
That means around 1,012,000 young people are not earning or learning – the first time the seasonally adjusted NEET estimate has reached one million since 2013.
This edition of our quarterly NEET Trends Analysis looks beyond the headline figure to shed light on the characteristics of the NEET population and the drivers of the increase in the NEET rate.
This summary presents the insights from our analysis.
The rise in the NEET rate is driven by increases in both unemployment and economic inactivity. The additional 89,000 NEET young people from the past year are evenly distributed across unemployment and economic inactivity (around 45,000 and 44,000 respectively).
A quarter of a million young people are NEET and economically inactive through long-term sickness. The number of NEET young people who are economically inactive because of long-term sickness doubled between 2021 and 2026.
The number of unemployed people per vacancy has more than doubled since 2022. Unemployment rates have risen for all age groups, but the sectors and roles that traditionally employ a lot of young people have been particularly affected.
The NEET rate among young people with a degree has remained consistently lower than the rate for those with education below degree level. Among young people aged 22-24, the NEET rate for graduates is around 10.4%, which is around half of the NEET rate for non-graduates of the same age (22.5%).
As the number of NEET young people passes one million, it’s time for urgent and ambitious reform. Our analysis demonstrates that this must tackle both economic inactivity and unemployment.
Labour Force Survey from the Office for National Statistics
Vacancy Survey from the Office for National Statistics
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