One in five young Belgians aged 15 to 24 are unemployed, as the youth unemployment rate rose to 19.9% in the third quarter of the year.
Latest figures from Statbel show that the youth unemployment rate has increased from 16.1% in the second quarter of the year, and 18.7% during the same three-month period last year.
The Belgian statistics office said that the increase is due to an influx of new graduates onto the labour market who are actively looking for work. Students who are neither working nor looking for work are not included in the unemployed population, but in the inactive population.
According to the latest Labour Force Survey from Statbel, the general unemployment rate has also increased, from 5.4% in the second quarter to 6% in the third quarter of 2024.
The unemployment rate represents the percentage of unemployed people among the active population (employed people and unemployed people) aged 15 to 64.
Meanwhile, the Belgian employment rate (the percentage of employed people among the total population aged 20 to 64) remained stable in the third quarter, rising by just 0.1 percentage points to 72.3%.
The number of people employed in the third quarter in Belgium is estimated at 5,069,000, and the number of unemployed people reached 320,000.
The employment rate for men is 76.7%, and is slightly lower for women at 68%.
Highest employment in Flanders
By region, the employment rate sits at 76.3% in Flanders, compared to 76.2% in the second quarter. In Wallonia, it is 67.6% compared to 68.1% in the previous quarter. The Brussels employment rate rose between the second and third quarters from 63.7% to 65.4%.
Additionally, Statbel's figures indicate that 44.5% of unemployed individuals remained jobless between the third quarter of 2023 and the third quarter of 2024. Meanwhile, 28.5% transitioned into employment, and 27.1% became inactive.
Nine in ten inactive individuals remained so on an annual basis. "Most of them are either retired or students and are therefore not immediately available in the labour market," Statbel explained.
