Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of) in Iceland
Iceland: Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of) was 4.0% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of) in Iceland, 2005–2025
Source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
Analysis
Iceland recorded 4.0% for share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of) in 2025.
That represents a change of up 0.9% on the previous year and down 15.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of) in Iceland peaked at 8.7% in 2009 and was at its lowest, 4.0%, in 2024.
That places Iceland 183rd out of 187 countries with data for 2025, putting it 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, total (% of) in Iceland, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 5.1% | — |
| 2006 | 5.1% | +0.7% |
| 2007 | 4.4% | -14.6% |
| 2008 | 5.0% | +15.7% |
| 2009 | 8.7% | +71.8% |
| 2010 | 7.9% | -8.9% |
| 2011 | 7.1% | -9.4% |
| 2012 | 6.6% | -7.0% |
| 2013 | 6.5% | -2.6% |
| 2014 | 5.7% | -11.6% |
| 2015 | 4.8% | -17.0% |
| 2016 | 4.3% | -9.8% |
| 2017 | 4.1% | -5.1% |
| 2018 | 5.3% | +30.5% |
| 2019 | 5.2% | -1.3% |
| 2020 | 6.7% | +27.1% |
| 2021 | 7.0% | +4.8% |
| 2022 | 5.6% | -19.1% |
| 2023 | 5.8% | +3.6% |
| 2024 | 4.0% | -32.0% |
| 2025 | 4.0% | +0.9% |
Iceland compared with similar countries
- Iceland's 4.0% is below the median for high income countries, which is 10.6%, 38% of the median. (62 countries reporting)
- Iceland's 4.0% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 10.5%, 38% of the median. (48 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of) in Iceland 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | +71.8% | 5.0% | 8.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 5.6% | 4.4% | 8.7% | 5 |
| 2010s | 5.8% | 4.1% | 7.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 5.5% | 4.0% | 7.0% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
- 180 Qatar 5.6% compare
- 181 Sweden 5.6% compare
- 182 Czechia 4.7% compare
- 184 Macau, China 3.7% compare
- 185 Netherlands 3.6% compare
- 186 Azerbaijan 3.3% compare
More work & labour data for Iceland
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes, annual -0.4964 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male, annual growth -0.4501 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female, annual growth -0.5492 % change on previous year (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population, annual growth rate -1.37 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population, annual growth rate 0.2312 % change on previous year (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Urban population 373.77 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Rural population 16.3 1000 No (2050)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Female 169.5 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Male 193.08 1000 No (2100)
- Population - Est. & Proj. — Total Population - Both sexes 362.58 1000 No (2100)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of) in Iceland?
- Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of) in Iceland was 4.0% 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, total (% of) recorded in Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 8.7% in 2009.
- What is the lowest share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of) recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 4.0% in 2024.
- How does Iceland rank for share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of)?
- Iceland ranks 183rd out of 187 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of) rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 15.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Iceland 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, total (% of 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).