This article presents statistics related to young people neither in employment nor in education or training (NEET) in the European Union (EU) and forms part of an online publication on education and training in the EU. Today young people are changing jobs more frequently and it takes a longer time to get established on the labour market. Therefore, it is important to make sure that the transition from education to work is smooth and also highlight the risks of being neither in employment nor in education or training. There are risks, both for the individual and in the long run for society, if young adults find themselves disengaged from both education and the labor market.
While background information is provided for those aged 15-34, the main age group that is studied in this article consists of young adults aged 15 to 29. For this age group, the European Union has set an EU-level target stipulating that the share of young people neither in employment nor in education or training should be less than 9 % by 2030. In 2021, an average of 13.1 % was identified as NEET within EU. However, there are differences between Member States as several countries have already reached the goal for 2030.