Parliament Question: Youth unemployment rates

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4435 TO BE ANSWERED ON 02ND APRIL, 2026 YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT RATES

4435. PROF. MANOJ KUMAR JHA:

Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state:

(a) whether Government has compiled data on youth unemployment rates in the country during the last five years;

(b) if so, the latest youth unemployment rate (ages 18-25) and how it compares with the overall national unemployment rate;

(c) whether it is a fact that approximately 66 per cent of unemployed individuals in the country are graduates or postgraduates, as per recent labour force surveys; and

(d) if so, the specific measures taken by Government to address the skill-employment mismatch affecting educated youth? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SUSHRI SHOBHA KARANDLAJE)

(a) to (d): The official data on Employment and Unemployment is collected through Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), which is conducted by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation

(MoSPI) since 2017-18.

As per the latest Annual PLFS reports, the estimated Unemployment Rate (UR) on usual status for youth of age 15-29 years was 15.0% in 2019-20, 12.9% in 2020-21, 12.4% in 2021-22, 10.0% in 2022-23 and 10.2% in 2023-24.

Also, the estimated Unemployment Rate (UR) on usual status for persons of age 15 years and above has decreased from 6.0% in 2017-18 to 3.2% in 2023-24 in the country.

Further, the estimated Unemployment Rate (UR) on usual status for graduates of age 15 years and above has decreased from 17.2% in 2017-18 to 13.0% in 2023-24 and from 14.6% to 12.4% for post graduates during the same period.Employment generation coupled with improving employability is a priority of the Government. Accordingly, Government is implementing various employment generation schemes/ programmes in the country.

The details of various employment generation schemes/ programmes being implemented by the Government may be seen at

https://dge.gov.in/dge/schemes_programmes.

Government is also implementing Skill India Mission (SIM) to deliver skill, re-skill and up-skill training through an extensive network of skill development centres/ schools/ colleges /institutes etc. under various schemes, viz. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS), National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) and Craftsmen Training Scheme (CTS) through Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in the country. The SIM aims at enabling youth of India to get future ready, equipped with industry relevant skills.

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has initiated ‘FutureSkills PRIME’ a programme for Re-skilling/Up-skilling of IT Manpower for Employability in 10 new/emerging technologies including Artificial Intelligence.

Government is implementing Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) Scheme named as the Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana to support employment generation, enhance employability and social security across all sectors, with special focus on the manufacturing sector. The scheme with an outlay of Rs 99,446 Crore aims to incentivize the creation of more than 3.5 Crore jobs in the country, over a period of 2 years.

Further, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, is running the National Career Service (NCS) Portal which is a one-stop solution for providing career related services including jobs from private and government sectors, information on online & offline job fairs, job search & matching, career counselling, vocational guidance, information on skill development courses, skill/training programmes etc. through a digital platform [www.ncs.gov.in].

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