Bhutan: Share of youth not in education, employment or training, female (% of female youth population) (modeled ILO estimate)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2025, Bhutan's share of youth not in education, employment or training, female (% of female youth population) (modeled ILO estimate) fell 0.06 percentage points on 2024 (from 23.21% to 23.14%).

Across the 19 yearly changes before that (2006 to 2024), the average change was +0.38 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.63 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.2 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 7.71 percentage points in 2022 and the biggest yearly fall was 5.92 percentage points in 2019. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2016 to 2025 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 25% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2025, Bhutan had the 84th highest value of the 182 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Bhutan in the 2025 ranking

• Armenia — 81st of 182: 23.58%
• Niger — 82nd of 182: 23.3%
• Comoros — 83rd of 182: 23.17%
• Sri Lanka — 85th of 182: 22.76%
• Mozambique — 86th of 182: 22.46%
• Suriname — 87th of 182: 22.35%

What this measures

The share of youth not in education, employment or training (also known as “the NEET rate”) conveys the number of young persons not in education, employment or training as a percentage of the total youth population. Youth not in education are those who were neither enrolled in school nor in a formal training program (e.g. vocational training). For the purposes of this indicator, youth is defined as all persons between the ages of 15 and 24 (inclusive).

Limitations: When differing from international standards, the operational criteria used to define employment and the participation in education or training will naturally affect the comparability of the resulting statistics, as will the coverage of the source of statistics (geographical coverage, population coverage, age coverage, etc.). NEET rates are calculated preferably for youth defined as persons aged 15 to 24, but when studying these rates it is important to keep in mind that not all persons complete their education by the age of 24.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 21 values

Share of youth not in education, employment or training, female (% of female youth population) (modeled ILO estimate) in nearby economies

• Bangladesh — 20.1% (2025)
• India — 39.57% (2025)
• Maldives — 27.45% (2025)
• Nepal — 41.39% (2025)
• Sri Lanka — 22.76% (2025)

More social protection & labor data for Bhutan

• Net migration — 455 (2025)
• Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, female (%) (modeled ILO estimate) — 31.06% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, male (%) (modeled ILO estimate) — 30.63% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, total (%) (modeled ILO estimate) — 30.83% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15-64) (modeled ILO estimate) — 59.65% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15-64) (modeled ILO estimate) — 74.48% (2025)
• Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15-64) (modeled ILO estimate) — 67.69% (2025)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Bhutan's share of youth not in education, employment or training, female (% of female youth population) (modeled ILO estimate)?

23.14% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2005?

It is up 7.18 percentage points from 15.96% in 2005. The highest value was 23.21% in 2024 and the lowest 12.35% in 2021.

How does Bhutan rank?

84th highest of 182 economies with data for 2025.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SL.UEM.NEET.FE.ME.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO), uri: https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/bulk/, publisher: ILOSTAT, type: external database, date accessed: January 17, 2026 Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.