Nearly one in four young people aged 20-24 in Romania (23.6%) was neither in employment nor in education or training in 2016, this being one of the highest shares in the EU, according to data from Eurostat.

Only Italy registered a higher share than Romania, namely 29.1%, while Greece registered a share of 23%.

In contrast, the lowest NEET rate (neither in employment nor in education or training) among young people aged 20-24 was recorded in the Netherlands (6.9%), ahead of Malta (8.1%), Denmark (8.5%), Luxembourg (9.0%) and Sweden (9.3%).

At EU level, almost 5 million young persons aged 20-24 (16.7%) were neither in employment nor in education or training in 2016.

The Eurostat data also showed that, although the proportion of young people aged 20-24 neither in employment nor in education or training remained relatively stable in the EU as a whole between 2006 and 2016, important changes occurred over the last decade in individual Member States. The NEET rate decreased in 12 Member States, with the most significant reductions being registered in Bulgaria (from 29.3% in 2006 to 22.7% in 2016, or -6.6 percentage points – pp), Germany (-5.5 pp), Poland (-3.6 pp), Slovakia and Sweden (both -3.4 pp).

Meanwhile, the largest increases in the proportion of people aged 20-24 neither in employment nor in education or training were registered in Cyprus (from 13.7% to 22.7%, or +9.0 pp), Spain (+8.0 pp), Italy (+7.5 pp), Greece (+6.2 pp), Ireland (+5.1 pp), Romania (+4.7 pp), Portugal (+4.6 pp), and the United Kingdom (+4.2 pp).

Social Monitor: Over 43% of young people in Romania are at risk of poverty

Irina Marica, irina.marica@romania-insider.com