Share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of) in North Korea
North Korea: Share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of) was 7.4% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of) in North Korea, 2005–2025
Source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
Analysis
In 2025, share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of) in North Korea stood at 7.4%. That is the lowest value across all 21 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 1.6% on the previous year and down 20.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of) in North Korea peaked at 9.9% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 7.4%, in 2025.
North Korea ranks 165th of 187 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 21 years of available data.
Share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of) in North Korea, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 8.8% | — |
| 2006 | 9.0% | +1.8% |
| 2007 | 9.2% | +1.8% |
| 2008 | 9.0% | -1.6% |
| 2009 | 9.0% | -0.3% |
| 2010 | 9.1% | +1.2% |
| 2011 | 9.1% | +0.5% |
| 2012 | 9.2% | +0.9% |
| 2013 | 9.3% | +0.8% |
| 2014 | 9.3% | -0.4% |
| 2015 | 9.2% | -0.3% |
| 2016 | 9.1% | -1.1% |
| 2017 | 8.9% | -2.6% |
| 2018 | 8.7% | -2.6% |
| 2019 | 8.4% | -2.6% |
| 2020 | 9.9% | +17.6% |
| 2021 | 9.0% | -8.9% |
| 2022 | 7.8% | -13.3% |
| 2023 | 7.5% | -3.7% |
| 2024 | 7.5% | -1.0% |
| 2025 | 7.4% | -1.6% |
North Korea compared with similar countries
- North Korea's 7.4% is below the median for low income countries, which is 18.7%, 39% of the median. (25 countries reporting)
- North Korea's 7.4% is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 10.7%, 69% of the median. (29 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 9.0% | 8.8% | 9.2% | 5 |
| 2010s | 9.0% | 8.4% | 9.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 8.2% | 7.4% | 9.9% | 6 |
Countries ranked near North Korea
More work & labour data for North Korea
- Labour force participation rate (ILO modelled estimates) 82.13 (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 17,790 (2027)
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 3,871 (2027)
- Unemployment rate (ILO modelled estimates) 3.56 (2027)
- Labour dependency ratio 0.555 (2027)
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+) 0.3313 % change on previous year (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2021 international $ at PPP 3,086 (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+), annual growth rate 0.2604 % change on previous year (2027)
- Employment-to-population ratio (ILO modelled estimates) 79.21 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2015 US $ 931.04 (2027)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of) in North Korea?
- Share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of) in North Korea was 7.4% 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 North Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 9.9% in 2020.
- What is the lowest share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of) recorded in North Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 7.4% in 2025.
- How does North Korea rank for share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of)?
- North Korea ranks 165th out of 187 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of youth not in education, employment or training, male (% of) rising or falling in North Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is down 20.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this North Korea 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).