Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, has published data on the proportion of young people neither in employment or education or training (NEET).

The European Union (EU) totals almost 90 million people aged 15-29, representing 17% of its population.

According to Eurostat, between the ages of 15 and 29, a clear and significant shift occurs from the world of education to the world of employment. In the 15-19 age group the vast majority of people in the EU were in education in 2015, the opposite is true for those aged 25-29: most of them were in employment. In-between, young people aged 20-24 were relatively evenly distributed between education and employment. Moreover, the proportion of young people neither in employment or education or training (NEET) increases considerably with age. The NEET rate, which stood at 6.3% for the age group 15-19 in 2015, almost tripled to 17.3% for the age group 20-24 and reached almost 1 young person in 5 aged 25-29 (19.7%).

The largest share of NEET aged 20-24 is in Italy and Greece, while the lowest is in the Netherlands and Luxembourg

In 2015 across Member States, more than 1 in every 4 young persons aged 20-24 was neither in employment or education or training in Italy (31.1%) as well as in Greece (26.1%) and more than 1 in every 5 was also in this situation in Croatia (24.2%), Romania (24.1%), Bulgaria (24.0%), Spain and Cyprus (both 22.2%). In contrast, the lowest NEET rates among young persons aged 20-24 were recorded in the Netherlands (7.2%), Luxembourg (8.8%), Denmark, Germany and Sweden (all 9.3%), Malta and Austria (both 9.8%) as well as the Czech Republic (10.8%).

At the EU level, almost 5 million young persons aged 20-24 (or 17.3%) were in 2015 Neets. The highest increase in NEET rate was seen in Italy, Greece and Spain, while the highest drop was in Germany and Bulgaria

Although the proportion of young people aged 20-24 neither in employment nor in education or training remained relatively stable in the EU as a whole between 2006 and 2015, important changes occurred over the last decade in the Member States. In ten of them, the NEET rate has decreased, with the most significant reductions being registered in Germany (from 15.2% in 2006 to 9.3% in 2015, or -5.9 points), Bulgaria (-5.3 points), Sweden (-3.4 points), the Czech Republic (-2.9 points) and Poland (-2.8 points).