Trends in young people not in education, employment or training 2021-2024

Overview

The number of young people aged 16 to 24 years not in education, employment or training (NEET) in the UK has been rising since 2021.

As the NEET level for young people approaches almost 1 million, we look at Labour Force Survey data in more detail to explore the trends and key drivers.

This summary presents the insights from our analysis.

Key findings

Rising unemployment and economic inactivity are driving NEET rates upwards — with concerning patterns related to mental health, regional inequality, and gender.

Further insights:

• The sharp rise in NEET levels for 16-24 year olds is not reflected in other age groups.
• Male NEET levels have surpassed female levels.
• Young men are more likely to be unemployed than inactive.
• Young women are more likely to be inactive than unemployed.
• Long-term sickness is the most common reason for economic inactivity, with mental health being the most common driver.
• London, the North West and the West Midlands have seen the largest increases in NEET levels.

Data sources

We have looked at multiple periods of micro date from the Quarterly Labour Force Survey, available from the UK Data Service. View the most recent.