Spain near European Union top for young people not working or studying

MORE than one in 10 under-25s in Spain are not in education, employment or training, one of the highest rates in the European Union, according to a new report.

The study by the ASEMPLEO employment agency organisation found that 12.8 per cent of young Spaniards are ‘NEETs’, or 534,600.

Among EU-member states only Italy and Greece have higher percentages.

As of September last year there were 4.2 million young people aged between 16 and 24 in Spain. Of these 27 per cent (1.1 million), had a job, 12.5 per cent (500,000) were on the dole and 60.4 per cent (2.5 million) were inactive.

The number of those registered as unemployed who were not taking some kind of course was 329,500, or 63 per cent, while for inactives the total was 205,000, or eight per cent.

The ASEMPLEO reported highlighted the fact youth unemployment in Spain stands at over 33 per cent, In other words, one in three young Spaniards who are looking for work do not manage to find a job.

On the positive side, the youth unemployment rate had dropped more than 20 points since 2013, which it reached 55 per cent.

ASEMPLEO found there is a “close relationship” between leaving school early and the NEETs, the highest numbers generally found in the south and east of the country.