A new report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) says youth unemployment worldwide is expected to fall to 73 million in 2022.

The global total number of unemployed young people is expected to fall to 73 million in the coming months. An estimated drop of two million compared to the previous year, according to the UN agency based in Geneva. This figure represents a slight improvement compared to 2021 (75 million), but is still 6 million higher than the level of 2019, before the pandemic, says this report, published on the occasion of International Youth Day. Overall, the global youth unemployment rate is expected to reach 14.9% in 2022.

Between 2019 and 2020, people aged 15 to 24 experienced a much higher percentage of job loss than the rest of the labour market, according to the ILO. The share of young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEET) in 2020 — the last year for which a global estimate is available — rose to 23.3%.

In Africa, the youth unemployment rate of 12.7% masks the fact that many young people have chosen to withdraw completely from the labour market. More than one in five young people in Africa were not in employment, education or training (NEET) in 2020. “The trend has deteriorated “, said the ILO.