Nine countries have already met the target set by Brussels of lowering the average rate to 9% by 2030, including Portugal (8.9%).

In 2023, more than one in ten (11.2%) young Europeans between the ages of 15 and 29 neither had a job nor were studying or undertaking any training (NEET). Still, this percentage means a drop of 0.5 percentage points compared to the previous year.

Data has been published by Eurostat, confirming the “significant decline” over recent years. In 2013, the rate was 16.1% and the only increase recorded in the decade was in the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic: from 12.6% in 2019 to 13.8% in 2020).

The European Union's statistics office shows considerable variations between Member States, between 4.8% in the Netherlands and 19.3% in Romania. The target set by community institutions is to lower the average rate to 9% by 2030. Something that nine countries already meet, including Portugal (8.9%).

According to the portrait drawn up in November by the then Secretary of State for Labor, Miguel Fontes, who estimated a lower rate (8.5%) in the national case, the percentage is higher in the age group from 25 to 29 years old, with the incidence being between ages 15 and 19 due to the reduction in early school leaving.