Young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) UK August 2025 - Jump Up To 948,000

21st August 2025

Estimates from January to March 2025 include the full effect of the improvements in Labour Force Survey (LFS) data collection and sampling methods introduced from January 2024; however, estimates may be subject to the effect of further ongoing improvements.

An increased amount of volatility will remain in the estimates from mid-2023 and throughout 2024, so we would advise caution when interpreting change involving those periods.

Estimates such as young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) will likely continue to see greater volatility compared with more aggregated measures because of smaller population subgroups compared with the headline rates, despite improved sample sizes.

LFS estimates are weighted to 2022 mid-year population estimates for periods from January to March 2019; the number of young people aged 16 to 24 years NEET estimates have a discontinuity at this point.

There was an increase in the number of young people aged 16 to 24 years NEET in April to June 2025; the total is currently estimated to be 948,000, up from 923,000 in January to March 2025.

Total young people who were not in education, employment or training (NEET)
An estimated 12.8% of all people aged 16 to 24 years in the UK were not in education, employment or training (NEET) in April to June 2025. This is up 0.3 percentage points compared with January to March 2025 and up 0.1 percentage points on the year.

An estimated 13.1% of young men (down 0.1 percentage points on the quarter) and 12.4% of young women (up 0.7 percentage points on the quarter) were NEET.

There were 948,000 young people who were NEET in total, an increase of 24,000 on the quarter. This increase was largely caused by young women, with an increase of 25,000 on the quarter, while young men saw a decrease of 1,000. Of the total number of young people who were NEET, 497,000 were young men and 450,000 were young women.

The total number of people aged 18 to 24 years who were NEET was 873,000, up 18,000 on the previous quarter.

The percentage of all those aged 18 to 24 years who were NEET was 15.0%, which again was up 0.3 percentage points on the quarter and up 0.1 percentage points on the year.

Unemployed young people who were not in education, employment or training
There was an estimated 365,000 young people NEET aged 16 to 24 years who were unemployed in April to June 2025. This was up 10,000 from January to March 2025, and up 20,000 from April to June 2024.

An estimated 224,000 of these unemployed young people NEET were young men, and 140,000 were young women. The number of NEET men aged 16 to 24 years who were unemployed decreased by 5,000 from January to March 2025, while the number of NEET women aged 16 to 24 years who were unemployed increased by 15,000 on the quarter.

Economically inactive young people who were not in education, employment or training
There was an estimated 583,000 economically inactive young people aged 16 to 24 years who were NEET in April to June 2025. This was up 14,000 on the quarter from January to March 2025, and up 6,000 on the year from April to June 2024.

The number of young men who were NEET and economically inactive was 273,000 and the corresponding number of young women was 310,000. The total increase of 14,000 on the quarter was largely caused by young women, who saw an increase of 10,000 from January to March 2025, while young men aged 16 to 24 years who were NEET and economically inactive increased by 4,000.

Read the full ONS report HERE