1. The Young People Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) tables provide information on the labour market status of 16 to 24 year olds. The tables are published in February, May, August and November and the figures are obtained from the Labour Force Survey (a survey of households).
2. A person is considered to be in education or training if any of the following apply:
- They are enrolled on an education course and are still attending or waiting for term to (re)start;
- They are doing an apprenticeship;
- They are on a government-supported employment or training programme;
- They are working or studying towards a qualification;
- They have had job-related training or education in the last four weeks.
3. In employment includes all people in some form of paid work, including working part-time. People not in employment are classed as either unemployed or economically inactive. Unemployed people are those who have been looking for work in the past four weeks and who are available to start work within the next two weeks. Economically inactive people are those who have not been looking for work and/or who are not available to start work. Examples include those not looking for work because they are students or looking after dependents at home. These definitions are based on those recommended by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
4. The number who were NEET decreased by 3,000 from the previous quarter and increased by 5,000 over the year, this change was not statistically significant. The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a sample survey and, as such, estimates obtained from it are subject to sampling variability. If we drew many samples, each would give a different result. Quarterly changes should be considered within longer term trends.
5. Labour Force Survey microdata are routinely revised to incorporate the latest population estimates. The latest reweighting was introduced in December 2024, affecting data from January-March 2019 to July-September 2024, to make use of more recent population estimates.
6. NEET statistics based on the Labour Force Survey will be of interest to policy makers, public bodies, the business community, banks, economic commentators, academics and the general public with an interest in the local economy.
7. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand and therefore may not sum.
8. The next NEET quarterly tables will be published on the NISRA website in August 2025.
9. For media enquiries contact the Department for the Economy Press Office at [email protected]
10. To keep up to date with news from the Department you can follow us on the following social media channels:
11. The Executive Information Service operates an out of hours service for media enquiries only between 1800hrs and 0800hrs Monday to Friday and at weekends and public holidays. The duty press officer can be contacted on 028 9037 8110.
12. Feedback is welcomed and should be addressed to: Responsible statistician: Patrick O’Kane, Economic & Labour Market Statistics Branch (ELMS), [email protected] or Tel: 028 9025 5161.
