Indicator

Youth Unemployment Rate by African country

2025

Share of the labor force ages 15-24 that is unemployed (ILO modelled estimate).

Africa, 202511 of 54 countries
19.7%population-weighted average
Highest in 2025Djibouti · 72.7%Lowest in 2025Senegal · 5.0%Reported in 202511 of 54 countries surveyed
Click a country to pin it — pinned countries are named on the map. Hatching means no record.
Western Sahara — no separate recordTanzania — 5.1%Democratic Republic of the Congo — no dataSomalia — no dataKenya — no dataSudan — no dataChad — no dataSouth Africa — 53.2%Lesotho — no dataZimbabwe — 15.6%Botswana — no dataNamibia — no dataSenegal — 5.0%Mali — no dataMauritania — no dataBenin — no dataNiger — no dataNigeria — no dataCameroon — no dataTogo — no dataGhana — 5.9%Cote d'Ivoire — no dataGuinea — no dataGuinea-Bissau — no dataLiberia — no dataSierra Leone — no dataBurkina Faso — 13.9%Central African Republic — no dataRepublic of the Congo — no dataGabon — no dataEquatorial Guinea — no dataZambia — no dataMalawi — no dataMozambique — no dataEswatini — no dataAngola — 18.6%Burundi — no dataMadagascar — no dataGambia — 12.6%Tunisia — no dataAlgeria — no dataEritrea — no dataMorocco — no dataEgypt — no dataLibya — no dataEthiopia — no dataDjibouti — 72.7%Uganda — no dataRwanda — 8.6%South Sudan — no dataNigeriaNigeriaEthiopiaEthiopiaKenyaKenyaSouth Africa 53.2%South Africa 53.2%2025HIGHEST IN 2025Djibouti72.7%South Africa53.2%Angola18.6%Zimbabwe15.6%Burkina Faso13.9%LOWEST IN 2025Senegal5.0%Tanzania5.1%Ghana5.9%Rwanda8.6%Seychellesnot drawn9.6%PINNEDEthiopiano dataKenyano dataNigeriano dataOTHER ISLAND STATES · NOT DRAWNCabo Verdenot drawnno dataComorosnot drawnno dataMauritiusnot drawnno dataSao Tome and Principenot drawnno data% of labour force · quintiles of the observed range5%5.9%9.6%13.9%18.6%72.7%no record
20142025
ILOSTAT · national statistics offices · the provider's own estimates where a country has not reportedCC BY 4.0
Countries

By region

Population-weighted, so a region’s figure is the share of its people, not the average of its countries.
Southern Africa1 of 5 countries53.2%
Middle Africa1 of 9 countries18.6%
Western Africa4 of 16 countries8.3%
Eastern Africa5 of 18 countries8.1%
Northern Africa0 of 6 countries—
Africaall 54 countries · 11 with a 2025 figure19.7%

What to know before you quote this

Specific to this series. For how we treat data generally, see methods.
43 countries have no usable 2025 recordNot a low value — no figure within the window. Algeria, Benin, Botswana, Burundi, Cabo Verde and 38 more are hatched on the map and blank in the table.
Certainty is judged year by yearA country can be Reported in one year and Modelled the next. The tag follows the year on the scrubber, so the 2025 assessment is not a verdict on the whole series.

About this data

Youth Unemployment RateShare of the labor force ages 15-24 that is unemployed (ILO modelled estimate).
SourceILOSTAT, with processing by Africa API
Unit% of labour force
Last updated10 Oct 2026
Next expected updateOct 2027
Date range1991–2025
Coverage11 of 54 countries · 11 reported, 0 modelled, 43 with no usable figure

How the figure is made

ReportedA national statistics office or the original provider published the figure for that year directly. 11 countries did so for 2025 — the certainty shown on this page is that 2025 assessment, not a per-series one.ModelledNo direct figure that year. The provider’s own estimate, interpolation or projection stands in, and is marked as such wherever it appears.No dataNo usable figure within the window. Drawn hatched on the map and left blank in the table — not zero, and not filled in.

These three states are used the same way across every indicator on the site — how we treat certainty explains the full set and what we never do to a number.

Reuse and cite

Everything on this page is open under CC BY 4.0 — use it anywhere, including commercially, as long as Africa API and the original provider are credited. The provider’s own licence still applies to their data.

How to cite this page
Africa API (2026) — "Youth Unemployment Rate". Data adapted from ILOSTAT. Retrieved 18 Oct 2026 from africa-api.com/indicators/youth-unemployment
The request behind this view
GET /v1/data?metric_key=youth_unemployment_pct&year=2025&limit=100

Read next

The measures that explain this one.

Youth Unemployment Rate: most recent figure per country, highest to lowest

25 countries · each with its own period

The figures at the top of the page compare every country in the same year. This list takes each country’s newest figure instead, whatever its period, so the order can differ.

#CountryYouth Unemployment RatePeriod
1Djibouti72.7%2025
2Eswatini54%2023
3South Africa53.2%2025
4Namibia52.3%2023
5Botswana45.2%2024
6Tunisia38.5%2023
7Gabon34.5%2024
8Lesotho31.1%2024
9Equatorial Guinea28.7%2023
10Malawi19.2%2024
11Angola18.6%2025
12Mauritius17.3%2024
13Zimbabwe15.6%2025
14Egypt15.3%2024
15Burkina Faso13.95%2025
16Gambia12.6%2025
17Uganda11.1%2024
18Zambia10.8%2024
19Mali10.5%2024
20Seychelles9.6%2025
21Rwanda8.6%2025
22Ghana5.9%2025
23Nigeria5.4%2024
24Tanzania5.1%2025
25Senegal5%2025
Which observations are included?
The ranking includes 25 of 54 countries with available observations for 2023 or later and within 2 years of the freshest result. Each figure shows its reporting period. Countries without an eligible observation are omitted.
Does a higher value mean a better result?
The ranking is sorted by value, from highest to lowest. The order does not rate a country's performance. Interpretation depends on the indicator and its definition.

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