Iceland's share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of male youth population) was 4.77% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 1.49 percentage points from 6.26% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 4.77% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 7.07% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 6.26% | 2015 |
| Highest | 10.06% | 2009 |
| Lowest | 2.02% | 2000 |
| Average since 2016 | 6.08% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 9.69% | 1995 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Iceland's share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of male youth population) rose 0.46 percentage points on 2024 (from 4.31% to 4.77%).
Across the 29 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2024), the average change was −0.19 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.87 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.3 standard deviations above 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 5.39 percentage points in 2009 and the biggest yearly fall was 3.64 percentage points in 2024. 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 5% 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, Iceland had the 64th highest value of the 68 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.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Iceland | 4.77% | 2025 |
| Europe & Central Asia | 10.23% | 2025 |
| High income | 10.18% | 2025 |
Closest to Iceland in the 2025 ranking
- Norway — 61st of 68: 6.23%
- Hong Kong SAR, China — 62nd of 68: 6.1%
- Russian Federation — 63rd of 68: 5.46%
- Sweden — 65th of 68: 4.75%
- Bolivia — 66th of 68: 4.55%
- Czechia — 67th of 68: 4.1%
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 31 values
| Year | Share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of male youth population) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 4.77 |
| 2024 | 4.31 |
| 2023 | 7.95 |
| 2022 | 7.77 |
| 2021 | 8.25 |
| 2020 | 7.07 |
| 2019 | 6.68 |
| 2018 | 4.82 |
| 2017 | 4.28 |
| 2016 | 4.87 |
Share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of male youth population) in nearby economies
More social protection & labor data for Iceland
- Net migration — 2,709 (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, total (% of total population ages 15+) (national estimate) — 75.62% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, female (% of female population ages 15+) (national estimate) — 71.97% (2025)
- Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) (national estimate) — 91% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate, male (% of male population ages 15+) (national estimate) — 79.09% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, female (%) (national estimate) — 83.98% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, male (%) (national estimate) — 81.49% (2025)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Iceland's share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of male youth population)?
- 4.77% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1995?
- It is down 4.92 percentage points from 9.69% in 1995. The highest value was 10.06% in 2009 and the lowest 2.02% in 2000.
- How does Iceland rank?
- 64th highest of 68 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of male youth population) unusual for Iceland?
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SL.UEM.NEET.MA.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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