Libya has the highest youth unemployment rate in North Africa, with 50.1% of 15-24 year-olds without jobs in 2025, far exceeding the global average and amid profound difficulties in integrating into the labour market, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO).
Half of Libya’s working-age youth were unemployed in 2025. According to estimates in the ILO’s Global Youth Employment Trends 2026 report, the unemployment rate for 15-24 year olds reached 50.1% in Libya, compared to a global unemployment rate of 18.8%. This 31.3 percentage point gap illustrates the extent of the difficulties faced by younger generations in accessing stable employment.
Libya thus ranks first in North Africa for youth unemployment. It is significantly ahead of Tunisia, where the rate reaches 38.1%, and Algeria, at 29.4%. Morocco has a rate of 21.9%, while Egypt has the lowest rate among the five countries mentioned, at 18.3%. The Libyan rate is thus more than four times the global average for youth unemployment.
Internationally, the ILO estimates that unemployment among 15-24 year olds worsened slightly in 2025, falling from 12.3% in 2024 to 12.4%.
Approximately 67 million young people were therefore unemployed worldwide. The organisation also draws attention to the increasing number of young people who are neither employed, nor in education, nor in training, a sign of persistent structural barriers to their economic integration.
The situation in Libya is all the more concerning given the particularly pronounced gap between general unemployment and youth unemployment.
Beyond the availability of jobs, this data highlights the difficulties in matching skills, training, and labour market needs.
The ILO also emphasises that young women continue to be disproportionately affected by these obstacles.
Faced with these imbalances, the organisation advocates for policies more focused on job creation, the development of productive investments, and better alignment between education and training
systems and the needs of businesses.
For Libya, youth employment is thus emerging as one of the main economic and social challenges. With one in two young working-age adults unemployed, the country’s ability to diversify its economy, stimulate productive investment, and transform its resources into job opportunities appears crucial, especially as technological changes and artificial intelligence are also beginning to redefine labour market needs.
MK/Sf/fss/as/APA