• ‘Nigeria’s unemployment bigger migration push factor than insecurity’
• Global youth unemployment rises amid weak growth and AI-driven change

Global youth employment crisis is deepening, with young people facing growing difficulty securing decent work as weak economic growth, slowing job creation and rapid technological change reshape labour markets, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has warned.

The ILO, in its latest Global Employment Trends for Youth 2026: Back to the Future report, said the global youth unemployment rate rose to 12.4 per cent in 2025, representing about 67 million unemployed people aged 15 to 24.

The report also found that the proportion of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) increased slightly to 20 per cent, affecting more than 257 million young people globally.

According to the organisation, youth unemployment increased between 2023 and 2025 in eight of the world’s 11 sub-regions, indicating a reversal of the improvement recorded after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The development is particularly significant for developing economies such as Nigeria, where the challenge is not only unemployment but also the availability of decent, productive and adequately protected jobs for young people.

Meanwhile, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Nigeria, Bengt van Loosdrecht, yesterday, said that unemployment was a greater push factor for young Nigerians seeking to migrate abroad than insecurity.

The ambassador said findings from the Youth Pulse Survey, conducted among more than 100 young Nigerians, showed that young people were primarily seeking opportunities to acquire relevant skills, secure decent employment, earn better incomes and access capital to establish businesses.

Van Loosdrecht disclosed this in Abuja, during the Youth Pulse Dialogue organised by the Youth Advisory Committee (YAC) to the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Nigeria to commemorate International Youth Day.

The dialogue, themed “Nigerian Youth at the Heart of National Development,” brought together young people, government representatives and other stakeholders to discuss challenges affecting Nigerian youths and ways of creating greater opportunities for them.

In her remarks, the Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Community Engagement (North Central), Dr Abiodun Essiet, commended young people for their commitment to supporting initiatives aimed at strengthening youth participation in national development.