In 2024, the youth unemployment rate in Australia was 9.47 percent. Between 1991 and 2024, the figure dropped by 8.01 percentage points, though the decline followed an uneven course rather than a steady trajectory.

Youth Unemployment Rate in Australia increased to 10.40 percent in June from 9.50 percent in May of 2025. This dataset provides - Australia Youth Unemployment Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

Australia youth unemployment rate for 2024 was 9.47%, a 1.1% increase from 2023.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>Australia youth unemployment rate for 2023 was <strong>8.38%</strong>, a <strong>0.08% decline</strong> from 2022.</li>
<li>Australia youth unemployment rate for 2022 was <strong>8.46%</strong>, a <strong>2.79% decline</strong> from 2021.</li>
<li>Australia youth unemployment rate for 2021 was <strong>11.25%</strong>, a <strong>2.97% decline</strong> from 2020.</li>
</ul>Youth unemployment refers to the share of the labor force ages 15-24 without work but available for and seeking employment.

In 2022, around 8.2 percent of the youth population aged 15 to 24 years in Australia were unemployed. This marked a noticeable decrease from the previous year's unemployment rate in the country. The highest youth unemployment rate during the measured period was recorded in 2020, at 14.3 percent.

The Australian Government Department of Jobs and Small Business publishes a range of labour market data on its Labour Market Information Portal website (lmip.gov.au). The link below provides data from the Labour Force Survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The boundaries used in this survey are known as Statistical Area 4 regions. The data provided includes unemployment rate, employment rate, participation rate, youth unemployment rate, unemployment duration, population by age group and employment by industry and occupation.

In June 2025, Tasmania had the highest unemployment rate among all states and territories in Australia with approximately 7.5 percent of those eligible to work jobs not in employment. Victoria had the second highest unemployment rate of 6.4 percent. Unemployment FiguresAustralian unemployment figures had remained relatively stable, hovering between four to six percent for some time before recently dropping to 4.03 percent in June 2024. Unemployment levels and the economy have regularly been a priority of the Australian government and unemployment remains a key political platform for the major parties during elections. However, long-term unemployment remains a concern, with the rate almost doubling between 2009 and 2019. Unemployment among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples  The employment outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders in Australia remain a key indicator for the ongoing inequality experienced by this population group. The figures remain high, especially among Aboriginal youths aged 15 to 24 years old, with almost one-fifth who are out of regular employment as of 2015. This meant that more than 25 thousand Aboriginal youths were out of work and struggling to find employment in that year.

The Australian Government Department of Jobs and Small Business publishes a range of labour market data on its Labour Market Information Portal website (lmip.gov.au).\r The link below provides data from the Labour Force Survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The boundaries used in this survey are known as Statistical Area 4 regions. The data provided includes unemployment rate, employment rate, participation rate, youth unemployment rate, unemployment duration, population by age group and employment by industry and occupation.

Graph and download economic data for Adjusted Unemployment Rate for Youth in Australia (DISCONTINUED) (AUSURYNAA) from 1978 to 2012 about Australia, adjusted, unemployment, and rate.

The number of unemployed youth worldwide decreased gradually from 2010 to 2019, but then increased in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As of 2024, there were an estimated 64.5 million unemployed youths between 15 and 24 years worldwide. Highest youth unemployment globally The countries with the highest rates of youth not in education, employment, or training (NEET) include Niger, Kiribati, Guyana, Somalia, and Afghanistan. While there is geographic diversity in this group, each of these countries are either low-income or low-middle income. Moreover, each has their own set of challenges contributing to high NEET rates. For example, in Afghanistan this can be attributed to conflict and the 2021 Taliban takeover. In Kiribati and other Pacific Island nations, they face high levels of brain drain to larger economies such as Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. Lowest youth unemployment globally On the contrary, countries with the lowest youth NEET rates include Japan, the Netherlands, Sweden, Iceland, and Malta. Factors such as well-structed vocational training programs and affordable university education contribute to low NEET rates. However, these countries still face their own challenges. For example, one contributing factor to such low NEET rates in Japan is the overall shrinkage of the Japanese population, which is simultaneously aging. While unemployment remains low in the country, it faces the potential crisis of not having enough people to support the labor market.

The youth unemployment rate in Australia increased by 1.1 percentage points (+13.13 percent) compared to the previous year. In total, the youth unemployment rate amounted to 9.47 percent in 2024. This increase was preceded by a declining youth unemployment rate.The youth unemployment rate refers to the share of the workforce aged 15 to 24 that is currently not working but is actively searching for work. It does not include the economically inactive population, such as the long-term unemployed or full-time students.Find more key insights for the youth unemployment rate in countries like Fiji and Tonga.

Labor force participation among youth in the G20 vary from three fourths in Australia to less than ** percent in India. Meanwhile, South Africa was the G20 member with the highest youth unemployment rate.

This dataset presents data on the summary statistics of employment and population for metropolitan areas following the Greater Capital City Statistical Area (GCCSA) regions as of December 2020. The boundaries for this dataset follow the 2016 edition of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS).

The Australian Department of Education, Skills and Employment publishes a range of labour market data on its Labour Market Information Portal. The data provided includes unemployment rate, employment rate, participation rate, youth unemployment rate, unemployment duration, population by age group and employment by industry and occupation.

AURIN has spatially enabled the original data. Data Source: ABS Labour Force Survey. All statistics are 12-month averages of original data, December 2020. The ABS advises that analysis of regional labour force estimates should typically be based on annual averages, which are important for understanding the state of the labour market and providing medium and long-term signals. The application of annual averages, however, is unlikely to accurately or quickly detect turning points in the regional data during periods of significant change (such as during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic). Original data at the ABS Statistical Area 4 (SA4) level can be found in Table 16

This dataset presents data on the summary statistics of employment and population for the Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4) regions as of December 2021. The boundaries for this dataset follow the 2016 edition of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS).

The Australian Department of Education, Skills and Employment publishes a range of labour market data on its Labour Market Information Portal. The data provided includes unemployment rate, employment rate, participation rate, youth unemployment rate, unemployment duration, population by age group and employment by industry and occupation.

AURIN has spatially enabled the original data. Data Source: ABS Labour Force Survey. All statistics are 12-month averages of original data, December 2021. The ABS advises that analysis of regional labour force estimates should typically be based on annual averages, which are important for understanding the state of the labour market and providing medium and long-term signals. The application of annual averages, however, is unlikely to accurately or quickly detect turning points in the regional data during periods of significant change (such as during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic). Original data at the ABS Statistical Area 4 (SA4) level can be found in Table 16. The region named "Western Australia - Outback (North and South)" in the original data has been omitted as it did not match a region within the SA4 2016 ASGS.

In a survey conducted in 2019 about the employment status of young people in Australia, ** percent of the respondents stated that they were employed in full-time work. Furthermore, only *** percent of the respondents said that they were unemployed. Interestingly, in Australia, the average youth unemployment rate decreased in 2019.

This dataset presents a range of data items sourced from a wide variety of collections, both Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and non-ABS. The data is derived from the November 2024 release of Data by region. Individual data items present the latest reference year data available on Data by region. This layer presents data by Statistical Areas Level 2 (SA2), 2021.

The Education and employment theme is based on groupings of data within Data by region. Concepts, sources and methods for each dataset can be found on the Data by region methodology page.

The Education and employment theme includes:

Enrolments in preschool or preschool programs Attendance in preschool or preschool programs Highest year of school completed (Census)
Jobs in Australia Labour force status (Census)
Non-school qualifications (Census)
Occupation of employed persons (Census) Youth engagement in work/study (Census)

When analysing these statistics:

Time periods, definitions, methodologies, scope, and coverage can differ across collections.
Some data values have been randomly adjusted or suppressed to avoid the release of confidential data, this means

    some small cells have been randomly set to zero
    care should be taken when interpreting cells with small numbers or zeros.

Data and geography references

Source data publication: Data by region Geographic boundary information: Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3 Further information: Data by region methodology, reference period 2011-24 Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)

Made possible by the Digital Atlas of Australia

The Digital Atlas of Australia is a key Australian Government initiative being led by Geoscience Australia, highlighted in the Data and Digital Government Strategy. It brings together trusted datasets from across government in an interactive, secure, and easy-to-use geospatial platform. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is working in partnership with Geoscience Australia to establish a set of web services to make ABS data available in the Digital Atlas of Australia.

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Email geography@abs.gov.au if you have any questions or feedback about this web service.
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This dataset presents data on education and employment available from the ABS Data by Region statistics. This release of Data by Region presents various data for 2011-2019 and Census of Population and Housing data for 2011 and 2016 and is based on the Statistical Area 2 (SA2) 2016 boundaries. The dataset includes information in the following specified areas of education and employment: Early Childhood - Enrolment and Attendance in Preschool Programs, Non-School Qualifications, Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) Repayments, Highest Year of School Completed, Occupation of Employed Persons, Youth Engagement in Work or Study, Jobs in Australia and Labour Force. Data by Region contains a standard set of data for each region type, depending on the availability of statistics for particular geographies. Data are sourced from a wide variety of collections, both ABS and non-ABS. When analysing these statistics, care needs to be taken as time periods, definitions, methodologies, scope and coverage can differ across collections. Where available, data have been presented as a time series - to enable users to assess changes over time. However, when looked at on a period to period basis, some series may sometimes appear volatile. When analysing the data, users are encouraged to consider the longer term behaviour of the series, where this extra information is available. For more information please visit the Explanatory Notes.

In 2024, around **** percent of the African youth, those aged between 15 and 24 years old, were expected to be unemployed. According to data from the International Labor Organization, this figure has remained stable since 2021. The rate of unemployment among youths in the continent has fluctuated in the period under review, overall slightly dropping in comparison to the share in 2012, the lowest in the period reviewed.

The paper deals with the potential relationship between higher education and entrepreneurial activities. Universities and other higher education institutions could be seen as boosting entrepreneurship in the region. University graduates could be more often involved in starting up a new business and the university itself could commercialize their innovations by creating academic spin-off companies. The paper aims to examine the potential effect of higher education on the probability of starting a business as well as its further success. Based on the data for 40 EU and non-EU countries, retrieved from a Eurobarometer survey, we conducted probit and IV probit regressions. These have tested the assumed relationship between higher education and entrepreneurial activities. Our results strongly suggest that higher education can often be very beneficial for starting up a new business and this seems to be one of the factors determining the success of new businesses. Furthermore, those respondents who attended courses related to entrepreneurship appear to be more active in starting-up a business and this seems to be also positively correlated with the company's future success. Interestingly, university graduates from Brazil, Portugal and India in particular, tend to appreciate the role that their universities have played in acquiring the skills to enable them to run a business.

This dataset presents a range of data items sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). The data is derived from the November 2024 release of Data by region. Individual data items present the latest reference year data available on Data by region. This layer presents data by Local Government Areas (LGA), 2021.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples theme is based on groupings of data within Data by region. Concepts, sources and methods for each dataset can be found on the Data by region methodology page.

Topics in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples theme include:

Estimated resident population Language (Census) Engagement in employment, education or training (Census) Labour force status (Census) Unpaid assistance to person with disability (Census) Unpaid childcare (Census) Voluntary work (Census) Tenure type (Census)

The Closing the Gap topics that are informed by Census data are included in the update:

Target 5: By 2031, increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 20-24 years attaining Year 12 or an equivalent qualification to 96 per cent. Target 6: By 2031, increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25-34 years who have completed a tertiary qualification (Certificate III and above) to 70 per cent. Target 7: By 2031, increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth aged 15-24 years who are in employment, education or training to 67 per cent. Target 8: By 2031, increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 25-64 years who are employed to 62 per cent. Target 9A: By 2031, increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in appropriately sized (not overcrowded) housing to 88 per cent.

When analysing these statistics:

Time periods, definitions, methodologies, scope, and coverage can differ across collections.
Some data values have been randomly adjusted or suppressed to avoid the release of confidential data, this means

    some small cells have been randomly set to zero
    care should be taken when interpreting cells with small numbers or zeros.

Data and geography references

Source data publication: Data by region Geographic boundary information: Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Edition 3 Further information: Data by region methodology, reference period 2011-24 Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)

Made possible by the Digital Atlas of Australia

The Digital Atlas of Australia is a key Australian Government initiative being led by Geoscience Australia, highlighted in the Data and Digital Government Strategy. It brings together trusted datasets from across government in an interactive, secure, and easy-to-use geospatial platform. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is working in partnership with Geoscience Australia to establish a set of web services to make ABS data available in the Digital Atlas of Australia.

Contact the Australian Bureau of Statistics

Email geography@abs.gov.au if you have any questions or feedback about this web service.
Subscribe to get updates on ABS web services and geospatial products.

Privacy at the Australian Bureau of Statistics Read how the ABS manages personal information - ABS privacy policy.

The Netherlands was the country in the world with the highest labor force participation rate among youth in 2022, reaching over ** percent. Iceland, Australia, and Uganda followed behind. In 2022, the Netherlands had a youth unemployment rate at *** percent.