Vietnam's 1.4 Million Youth Outside Work and Education Face a Narrowing Window for Opportunity

Economic Growth Leaves Many Young Vietnamese Behind

Approximately 1.4 million Vietnamese aged 15 to 24 were neither employed, in education nor in training in the fourth quarter of 2025, representing 10.2 percent of the country's youth population. The General Statistics Office under the Ministry of Finance reported the figures as Vietnam faced two pressures at once: difficulty bringing young people into work and an aging population.

The figures describe young people classified as NEET, meaning not in employment, education or training. Some are looking for jobs. Others are outside the labor force altogether, including those who have become discouraged. All are outside both employment and the learning opportunities that could help them enter it.

Vietnam's economic growth has therefore come alongside a difficult transition from school to work for a substantial number of young people. The General Statistics Office has called for earlier career guidance, clearer educational and vocational pathways, and stronger connections between schools and businesses so that training better matches the jobs employers need filled.

Rural communities and young women face the greatest gaps in the figures. The NEET rate was 11.7 percent in rural areas, compared with 8.2 percent in urban areas. Among young women, it reached 12 percent, compared with 8.3 percent among young men.

These gaps matter beyond the immediate loss of income. Extended periods outside work and learning can reduce future earnings, weaken skills and leave young people socially isolated. Vietnam also risks missing an opportunity to put its young workforce to productive use before population aging brings greater demands on pensions and other social support.

As of January 18, 2026, the challenge was to connect these young people with suitable work or learning while preparing for a future with fewer workers relative to the population needing support. The potential double burden is worker shortages alongside growing social security pressures.

What the NEET Measure Counts

The NEET rate measures the percentage of people in a selected age group who are outside employment, education and training. For Vietnam's figures, that age group is 15 to 24. It includes unemployed people and people who are economically inactive, provided they are also outside education and training.

The OECD and International Labour Organization definitions cover formal education undertaken either part time or full time. Employment includes someone who worked at least one hour for pay during the reference week, or who was temporarily absent from a job.

Youth unemployment and NEET therefore describe different parts of the problem. Unemployment focuses on people in the labor force who lack work. NEET also reaches young people outside the labor force who are not studying or training, making it a broader measure of exclusion from work and learning.

Discouraged young people can disappear from ordinary unemployment measures when they stop looking for work. The NEET measure helps make that hidden unemployment visible. Its expression as a share of a defined age group also provides a standard basis for international comparisons.

Long periods of disconnection can bring lasting unemployment, lower lifetime earnings and social exclusion. They can also damage confidence, motivation and social integration. Reconnecting young people consequently involves educational quality, information about jobs, career guidance and social protection, alongside creating employment.

How Vietnam's Figures Changed During 2025

Vietnam recorded 1.35 million NEET youth in the first quarter of 2025, equivalent to 10.4 percent of its youth population. That number was 66,900 below the same period in 2024, but 84,400 above the previous quarter. The movement showed volatility rather than steady improvement.

The fourth quarter figure of approximately 1.4 million came with a slightly lower share, 10.2 percent. The count and the rate measure different things: the count is the number of young people affected, while the rate is their share of the youth population.

• First quarter of 2025: 1.35 million young people were NEET, or 10.4 percent, with a rise of 84,400 from the previous quarter and a decline of 66,900 from a year earlier.
• Fourth quarter of 2025: approximately 1.4 million young people were NEET, or 10.2 percent.
• January 18, 2026: Vietnam's youth employment challenge combined these latest figures with concerns about skills, unequal access to opportunities and population aging.

Youth unemployment stood at 7.93 percent in early 2025. Vietnamese Labor Minister Dao Ngoc Dung cited a closely corresponding figure of 7.92 percent and described youth unemployment as an "acceptable figure" against the regional comparison.

A Stable Labor Market Still Has Unused Capacity

Dao Ngoc Dung, Vietnam's labor minister, described the unemployment rate as being within acceptable limits, comparing youth unemployment with a Southeast Asian average of around 9.5 percent.

within acceptable limits

Slow global economic growth and instability affecting production and business operations contributed to the regional difficulties. Vietnam's youth rate was lower than that comparison, although national averages left substantial differences between groups.

The broader measure of labor underutilization showed 2.14 million people, equivalent to 4 percent of the workforce, in the fourth quarter of 2025. Underutilization includes unemployed people, people with insufficient work, and people outside the labor force who are willing to work.

Rural underutilization was 4.1 percent, compared with 3.8 percent in urban areas. The General Statistics Office described the labor market in the fourth quarter as basically stable, while noting a slight increase in underemployment to approximately 784,000 people.

The agency explained that some unused labor capacity exists even in normal economic conditions and often grows during major shocks. Vietnam's underutilization rate rose sharply from the first quarter of 2020, peaked in the third quarter of 2021 and then gradually fell, eventually fluctuating around 4 percent.

Those figures show why finding a job is only part of the employment challenge. A person can have work yet still need more hours or a more secure way to earn a living. Youth policy consequently has to consider access to work, the amount of work available and its quality.

Rural Youth and Young Women Face Wider Gaps

Rural Vietnam's NEET rate of 11.7 percent exceeded the urban rate of 8.2 percent by 3.5 percentage points. Traditional agricultural employment has declined faster than new opportunities have emerged in rural communities, encouraging young people to move toward cities.

Young migrants may lack the skills or social networks needed to secure employment. Rural communities also face increasingly mechanized agriculture, while service sector jobs remain concentrated in urban centers. These changes make the route from local schooling to paid work more difficult.

Young women's NEET rate of 12 percent was 3.7 percentage points above the 8.3 percent recorded for young men. Unequal access to education and training, social norms and different expectations about family responsibilities contribute to the gap.

Women can face particular difficulty balancing traditional family roles with paid employment. For young women in rural areas, limited local opportunities can combine with restrictions on mobility, leaving them facing the highest barriers to education and employment.

Vietnam's official government portal also described a similar pattern in the proportion of young people lacking basic necessities: higher rates in rural areas than urban areas, and higher rates among young women than young men. The overlapping disadvantages call for support shaped around location and gender rather than a single program applied identically everywhere.

Vietnam's Challenge Within Asia and the World

The International Labour Organization estimated that global youth unemployment would rise to 12.4 percent in 2025, while around 260 million young people would be classified as NEET. The projected NEET rate in countries with low incomes was nearly 28 percent.

Asia and the Pacific had 157 million NEET youth in 2023, up from 145 million in 2019. That increase of 12 million left approximately one in every five young people in the region outside employment, education and training.

Vietnam's NEET rate of approximately 10 to 10.4 percent was below the ranges reported for several neighboring countries. Thailand's rate was between 12.8 and 15 percent, while Indonesia's was 17 to 18 percent, placing it among Southeast Asian countries with the highest rates.

The Philippines recorded rates of 12 to 13 percent, with the problem mainly concentrated among young people in poor urban areas. China's rate fluctuated around 15 to 17 percent according to ILO data, higher than Vietnam's but below the global average.

The ILO's Employment and Social Trends 2026 report forecast a global unemployment rate of 4.9 percent, equivalent to about 186 million people. Its projections for employment growth in 2026 varied by country income group: 0.5 percent in economies with upper middle incomes, 1.8 percent in those with lower middle incomes and 3.1 percent in those with low incomes.

The ILO described a demographic contrast behind these labor market pressures. Developed economies face population aging and slow labor force growth, while countries with low incomes struggle to turn rapid population growth into productive employment. Vietnam faces elements of both challenges, with shrinking youth cohorts in some regions alongside high youth unemployment in others.

Why Schooling Does Not Always Lead to Work

Vietnam's education system does not always provide the specific skills employers seek. Young graduates can struggle to find jobs while businesses leave vacancies unfilled. The problem is a mismatch between what people have learned and what available work requires.

Vocational education is also undervalued compared with academic pathways associated with greater prestige. Technical occupations can face worker shortages even as young people pursue courses that give them a less direct route into employment.

Digital transformation and artificial intelligence are changing that route further. Some traditional roles for people entering work are being replaced, while demand grows for new technical and digital skills. Young people without digital literacy or specialized training are especially vulnerable.

Minister Dung said employers increasingly preferred experienced workers able to carry out several tasks to save costs. That preference makes entry more difficult for young workers, who have less experience, and leaves them vulnerable to job cuts when they struggle to adapt.

The COVID-19 pandemic continued to affect transitions from education to employment. Schools and employers adapted differently, leaving gaps in learning and work experience. The pandemic also accelerated digital changes and altered business models, weakening the connection between traditional educational pathways and emerging jobs.

Social and behavioral factors also contribute to disengagement, including parental indulgence, reliance on online escapism and cycles of debt from informal loans. Some young workers prefer stable employment over temporary jobs with higher pay and remain unemployed while waiting for suitable positions. Extended waits can leave their skills less practiced and less current.

Training, Entrepreneurship and Employment Protection

Vietnamese authorities have acknowledged the youth employment challenge. Minister Dung outlined flexible training to develop skills that match market needs, together with incentives for small and medium enterprises led by young people to encourage innovation and job creation.

Entrepreneurship support includes financial assistance, management training and tax incentives. Young people face particular barriers to starting businesses, such as limited collateral for borrowing, weak business networks and regulatory burdens. Simpler registration procedures, access to credit and mentoring can help address those barriers.

Minister Dung described unemployment insurance as a safety net against prolonged unemployment among young people.

safety net

Authorities also stressed creating domestic employment opportunities and limiting the recruitment of foreign workers for common labor roles. The objective is to improve access to jobs for Vietnamese workers while expanding the opportunities available at home.

Flexible training is intended to respond as labor demand changes. A broader shift in how society values vocational education is also needed so that technical training is regarded as a credible route to a productive career rather than an inferior alternative to academic study.

Reaching Young People Before They Disconnect

The General Statistics Office recommended early career guidance and educational or vocational orientation suited to each person's abilities. Stronger links between schools and businesses would help young people make choices informed by actual employment demand before completing formal education.

Closer coordination between educators and employers can make courses more relevant to available work. Opportunities to learn in workplaces can also give young people practical experience, addressing one of the disadvantages they face when employers prefer experienced candidates.

Officials called for a national database of NEET youth to identify those most at risk and track how well programs reconnect them with work or learning. This remained a proposal, with no implementation date given. Better targeting would help distinguish between young people who need training, job placement or other support.

Psychological support has also been identified as a priority. Young people discouraged by extended unemployment may need counseling and help rebuilding confidence alongside skills training and assistance finding a job.

Rural economic development and better connections between rural education systems and urban labor markets are another part of the response. The differences by gender and location mean that access to a course or a vacancy may need to be accompanied by support addressing family responsibilities, mobility or a lack of local opportunities.

Jobs, Poverty and the Changing Economy

The World Bank described jobs as the most effective route out of poverty in East Asia and the Pacific. Growth in income from manufacturing and service sector work accounted for nearly all of Vietnam's poverty reduction between 2010 and 2020.

That record places employment at the center of the country's development prospects. Young people who remain outside work miss opportunities to earn, gain experience and contribute to the economy. Prolonged exclusion also increases the risk of poverty later in life.

The World Bank warned that growth driven by exports and manufacturing faces pressure from automation and changing global trade patterns. Meanwhile, digitization and artificial intelligence are raising productivity in services and creating opportunities for work requiring greater skills and producing greater value.

Education systems and young workers have to adapt to both changes. Some familiar routes into employment are narrowing, while emerging roles require capabilities that existing training does not always supply.

The ILO estimated that nearly 300 million workers worldwide live in extreme poverty, earning less than US$3 a day. Informal employment was expected to reach 2.1 billion workers by 2026, with many lacking stable jobs, labor rights and social security.

Progress in improving job quality remains slow in countries with low incomes, leaving vulnerable workers further behind. For Vietnam's young people, securing employment needs to lead toward a dependable livelihood rather than continued hardship while working.

Trade Pressure Meets a Demographic Transition

Global trade policy uncertainty and disruptions to supply chains are putting pressure on wages, particularly in Europe and Asia, including Vietnam. Trade nevertheless supports the livelihoods of about 465 million workers worldwide, more than half of them in Asia and the Pacific.

Vietnam therefore has to maintain its competitiveness while creating good domestic employment opportunities. Changes in trade, technology and employer demand affect both the number of jobs available and the skills young workers need to obtain them.

The World Bank projected that about 320 million people would reach working age across East Asia and the Pacific over the next decade. At current trends, only about 110 million new jobs might be added as economic growth slows in many countries with middle incomes.

The difference between those projections is about 210 million. Young people are likely to face the greatest difficulty entering employment because they have less experience and encounter higher barriers than established workers.

At the same time, 34 million people will turn 65 each year across the region. Countries with aging populations, including Vietnam, must adapt labor markets and social protection systems to a rapidly shrinking population of working age.

A declining workforce can slow economic growth, while inadequate employment for today's young people can add to future poverty and social security pressures. Preparation and investment in people's skills can help Vietnam manage the transition and make fuller use of its current youth population.

A Youth Guarantee and More Suitable Opportunities

The ILO has urged governments and businesses to expand employment opportunities for women and young people. It also called for policies that raise labor productivity through investment in skills, education, infrastructure and technology, with greater attention to risks from public debt, artificial intelligence and trade uncertainty.

The organization's Global Employment Trends for Youth report advocates a youth guarantee: a package of active labor market policies intended to give every young person access to education, training or employment within a specified period. The approach seeks to prevent disconnection rather than waiting to respond after it has become prolonged.

The ILO expressed the value of decent work for young people in these words:

decent work is a ticket to a better future for young people. And a passport for social justice, inclusion and peace. The time to create the opportunities for a brighter future is now.

The organization said millions of young people were missing opportunities for a better future without equal access to education and decent jobs. For Vietnam, its recommendations connect with the priorities already identified: relevant training, practical experience, career guidance and opportunities reaching women and rural communities.

Vietnam's response requires coordination across education, employment services, businesses and social support. Entrepreneurship assistance can create another route into work, while psychological support can help those who have lost confidence. Investment in skills and preparation for aging can help prevent today's employment difficulties from becoming disadvantages that last throughout a generation's working life.

Key Points

• Approximately 1.4 million Vietnamese aged 15 to 24 were outside employment, education and training in the fourth quarter of 2025, representing 10.2 percent of the youth population.
• The first quarter of 2025 recorded 1.35 million NEET youth, or 10.4 percent, with numbers rising from the previous quarter but falling from a year earlier.
• Rural NEET rates were 11.7 percent, compared with 8.2 percent in cities. Young women's rate was 12 percent, compared with 8.3 percent for young men.
• Vietnam had 2.14 million people in underutilized labor in the fourth quarter of 2025, including approximately 784,000 underemployed people.
• Asia and the Pacific had 157 million NEET youth in 2023, up from 145 million in 2019.
• Vietnam's priorities include earlier career guidance, flexible training, stronger school and business connections, entrepreneurship assistance and psychological support.
• A national database of NEET youth was proposed to improve targeting and track program results.
• The World Bank projected 320 million people reaching working age across East Asia and the Pacific over the next decade, against about 110 million new jobs at current trends.
• The ILO advocates a youth guarantee providing access to education, training or employment within a specified period.