Young and hungry
After the youth unemployment rate in China reached an all time high of more than 21% in June 2023, the country’s National Bureau of Statistics elected to suspend future reports. Unfortunately, China is not the only country struggling with high unemployment rates among younger workers. For instance, in Spain 27.4% of those aged between 15 and 24 are unemployed and in Sweden the figure is 24.9%. High youth unemployment rates not only strain budgets, but also limit long-term growth prospects as key skillsets are not developed during a crucial period. While the aggregate rate of youth unemployment across countries within the OECD declined to 15.6% in 2022 from a peak of 18.4% in 2020, the figure is still measurably above the 14.7% rate recorded a decade prior.
Source: OECD, August 2023