Sweden's share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of youth population) was 4.95% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 1.86 percentage points from 6.81% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 4.95% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 6.52% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 6.81% | 2015 |
| Highest | 54.14% | 1995 |
| Lowest | 4.95% | 2022 |
| Average since 2016 | 5.67% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 54.14% | 1995 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Sweden's share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of youth population) fell 0.62 percentage points on 2024 (from 5.58% to 4.95%).
Across the 27 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2024), the average change was −1.73 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 8.83 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 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 9.57 percentage points in 2000 and the biggest yearly fall was 43.39 percentage points in 1996. 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 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.17 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 61% of the movement over 10 observed years.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2025, Sweden had the 66th 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.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Sweden | 4.95% | 2025 |
| Europe & Central Asia | 11.38% | 2025 |
| High income | 10.56% | 2025 |
Closest to Sweden in the 2025 ranking
- Ireland — 63rd of 69: 6.37%
- Norway — 64th of 69: 6.15%
- Hong Kong SAR, China — 65th of 69: 5.95%
- Czechia — 67th of 69: 4.89%
- Iceland — 68th of 69: 4%
- Netherlands — 69th of 69: 3.91%
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 30 values
| Year | Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of youth population) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 4.95 |
| 2024 | 5.58 |
| 2023 | 5.12 |
| 2022 | 4.95 |
| 2021 | 5.06 |
| 2020 | 6.52 |
| 2019 | 5.53 |
| 2018 | 6.17 |
| 2017 | 6.27 |
| 2016 | 6.59 |
Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of youth population) in nearby economies
More social protection & labor data for Sweden
- Net migration — 47,079 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asylum — 144,116 (2025)
- Unemployment, female (% of female labor force) (national estimate) — 8.71% (2025)
- Unemployment, male (% of male labor force) (national estimate) — 8.77% (2025)
- Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) (national estimate) — 8.74% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, female (%) (national estimate) — 57.25% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, male (%) (national estimate) — 57.23% (2025)
- Labor force participation rate for ages 15-24, total (%) (national estimate)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Sweden's share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of youth population)?
- 4.95% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1995?
- It is down 49.19 percentage points from 54.14% in 1995. The highest value was 54.14% in 1995 and the lowest 4.95% in 2022.
- How does Sweden rank?
- 66th 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 Sweden?
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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