Share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of) in Afghanistan
Afghanistan: Share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of) was 28.7% in 2025. ▲ Rising
Share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of) in Afghanistan, 2005–2025
Source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
Analysis
Afghanistan recorded 28.7% for share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of) in 2025.
That represents a change of down 1.0% on the previous year and up 64.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of) in Afghanistan peaked at 32.9% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 16.7%, in 2014.
That places Afghanistan 14th out of 187 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 21 years of available data.
Share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of) in Afghanistan, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 17.7% | — |
| 2006 | 17.6% | -0.3% |
| 2007 | 17.5% | -0.7% |
| 2008 | 17.5% | -0.1% |
| 2009 | 17.4% | -0.7% |
| 2010 | 17.3% | -0.3% |
| 2011 | 17.3% | +0.2% |
| 2012 | 17.0% | -1.8% |
| 2013 | 16.8% | -1.0% |
| 2014 | 16.7% | -1.0% |
| 2015 | 17.5% | +4.7% |
| 2016 | 18.2% | +4.1% |
| 2017 | 18.8% | +3.7% |
| 2018 | 18.6% | -1.5% |
| 2019 | 18.2% | -1.7% |
| 2020 | 32.9% | +80.0% |
| 2021 | 30.3% | -7.7% |
| 2022 | 29.4% | -3.1% |
| 2023 | 29.2% | -0.4% |
| 2024 | 29.0% | -1.0% |
| 2025 | 28.7% | -1.0% |
Afghanistan compared with similar countries
- Afghanistan's 28.7% is above the median for low income countries, which is 18.7%, 1.5× the median. (25 countries reporting)
- Afghanistan's 28.7% is above the median for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, which is 16.2%, 1.8× the median. (23 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of) in Afghanistan changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +80.0% | 18.2% | 32.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 17.5% | 17.4% | 17.7% | 5 |
| 2010s | 17.6% | 16.7% | 18.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 29.9% | 28.7% | 32.9% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Afghanistan
- 11 South Sudan 30.5% compare
- 12 Sudan 30.1% compare
- 13 Barbados 30.1% compare
- 15 East Timor 28.6% compare
- 16 Sierra Leone 28.5% compare
- 17 Namibia 28.1% compare
More work & labour data for Afghanistan
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes, annual 0.4637 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male, annual growth 0.4511 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female, annual growth 0.4755 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population, annual growth rate -0.088 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population, annual growth rate 2.67 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population 25,498 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population 36,430 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female 65,039 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male 65,177 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes 130,217 1000 No (2100)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of) in Afghanistan?
- Share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of) in Afghanistan was 28.7% in 2025, according to ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
- What is the highest share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of) recorded in Afghanistan?
- The highest recorded value was 32.9% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of) recorded in Afghanistan?
- The lowest recorded value was 16.7% in 2014.
- How does Afghanistan rank for share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of)?
- Afghanistan ranks 14th out of 187 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of) rising or falling in Afghanistan?
- Over the last ten years it is up 64.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Afghanistan data come from?
- The figures come from ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO), published as part of Share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of male youth population) (modeled ILO estimate). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 21 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
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).