More than 1m young people not in work or education - ONS

(Sharecast News) - The number of young people not in education, employment or training (Neets) has risen to more than 1 million, according to figures released on Thursday by the Office for National Statistics.

There were an estimated 1.01m young people between the ages of 16 and 24 who were Neet in January to March 2026, the ONS said. This is up by 89,000 from the same period a year earlier, and by 55,000 on October to December 2025.

"This increase was largely among young men, with an increase of 55,000 on the year, as well as an increase among young women of 34,000 on the year," the ONS said. "Of the total number of young people who were Neet, 553,000 were young men and 459,000 were women."

The data also showed there were an estimated 613,000 economically inactive young people who were Neet during the period, up 44,000 on the year from January to March 2025, and by 66,000 on the quarter from October to December 2025.

The ONS defines economically inactive people as not in employment, but also not meeting the internationally accepted definition of unemployment because they have not been seeking work within the last four weeks and/or they are unable to start work in the next two weeks.

ONS head of labour market output Elise Rohan said: "The number of young people not in employment, education or training rose above one million in the first quarter of 2026, to its highest level in more than 12 years.

"This was driven by greater numbers of young people no longer looking for work."