Fast Facts

The Middle East has the lowest female employment rate in the world.

The gender gap in male and female employment is highest in Jordan, Syria and Egypt.

Women with secondary and higher levels of education are more likely than men with the same level of education to be unemployed.

More than 1.7 billion people today are between 15 and 29 years of age.

85 percent of the world\'s young people live in developing countries.

On average, about 70 percent of young people in the developing world are not in school past age 14.

Halving the world's youth unemployment rate would add at least US$2.2 trillion to the global economy.

While the overall youth population grew by 10.5 percent over the last 10 years, youth employment grew by only 0.2 percent.

Over the next decade alone, the International Labour Organization expects more than 1.2 billion young people to enter the global labor market, making it the largest youth cohort in history in a single decade.

The youth unemployment rate has increased by 27 percent over the past decade.

According to the International Labour Organization, the MENA region has the highest rate of youth unemployment.