Colombia: Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of youth population)

Key figures

Since 2002 it is down 7.96 percentage points from 29.94% in 2002. The World Bank has no value for 2 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2025, Colombia's share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of youth population) fell 1.17 percentage points on 2024 (from 23.15% to 21.98%).

Across the 18 yearly changes before that (2003 to 2024), the average change was −0.51 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.02 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.7 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 1.08 percentage points in 2019 and the biggest yearly fall was 2.84 percentage points in 2022. 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 7% of the movement over 9 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, Colombia had the 10th highest value of the 69 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 Colombia in the 2025 ranking

• Dominican Republic — 7th of 69: 24.69%
• Türkiye — 8th of 69: 23.33%
• Guatemala — 9th of 69: 22.25%
• North Macedonia — 11th of 69: 19.48%
• Costa Rica — 12th of 69: 19.43%
• El Salvador — 13th of 69: 19.09%

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 22 values

Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of youth population) in nearby economies

• Argentina — 15.22% (2025)
• Bolivia — 7.96% (2025)
• Brazil — 18.7% (2025)
• Chile — 13.44% (2025)
• Costa Rica — 19.43% (2025)
• Dominican Republic — 24.69% (2025)
• Ecuador — 17.72% (2025)
• El Salvador

More social protection & labor data for Colombia

• Net migration — 129,139 (2025)
• Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asylum — 1,464 (2025)
• Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) (national estimate) — 8.43% (2025)
• Unemployment, female (% of female labor force) (national estimate) — 10.66% (2025)
• Unemployment, male (% of male labor force) (national estimate) — 6.78% (2025)
• Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of origin — 79,669 (2025)
• Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15+) (national estimate) — 52.31% (2025)
• Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) (national estimate)

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 Colombia's share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of youth population)?

21.98% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2002?

It is down 7.96 percentage points from 29.94% in 2002. The highest value was 29.94% in 2002 and the lowest 21.13% in 2016.

How does Colombia rank?

10th highest of 69 economies with data for 2025.

Is the latest change in share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of youth population) unusual for Colombia?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SL.UEM.NEET.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Labour Force Statistics database (LFS), International Labour Organization (ILO), uri: https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/bulk/, publisher: ILOSTAT, type: external database, date accessed: September 28, 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.

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