Nordregio is an international research institute established by the Nordic Council of Ministers

20 August, 2026

NEET-rate among the younger population

Nordregio maps the share of the young population who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET). Data is presented at the municipal and regional level. For the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland, data is presented at the national level.

NEET rates vary greatly between municipalities. From 2% in Folldal, NO, to 35% in Fjaler, NO. Five municipalities with over 20% appear. Four are found in Norway, while the small island of Christiansø* in Denmark being the fifth. In Greenland, 33% of 16–24-year-olds belong to the NEET category. The median value for the presented municipalities is 7.3%

Mean values differ between countries. The Scandinavian countries averages are: 10% in Denmark, 7.7% in Norway, and 6.9% in Sweden. The 29 municipalities with available data for Finland present a mean value of 16.7%, significantly higher. The age brackets used for Finland can affect the data here, as it is using 18–24-year-olds instead of 16–24, as for most of the other countries. The values are expected to be higher, as most of 16 and 17-year-olds likely attend upper secondary school. Faroe Islands, Iceland, and Greenland only present data on the national level, with 4.4% on Faroe Islands, 6.3% on Iceland, and as mentioned above, 33% on Greenland.

Map Facts

The countries report this data in different ways. The age groups are not identical, where the differences can be seen in the map layout. The data for Faroe Islands and Iceland are based on a survey from 2021. Finland presents data for this category at the wellbeing services county-level, and the largest municipality within each one, which is why most of the Finnish municipalities are left out. Only presenting data for each of the wellbeing services counties means that the more rural municipalities are not included, which is worth keeping in mind when looking at the municipal data presented for Finland.
*Christiansø is not a municipality, but its data is here presented in the municipality-category.

Designer/Cartographer
Benjamin Ullman

Junior Cartographer/GIS analyst

Terms of use

All images are the property of Nordregio. They may be freely used as long as the logo of Nordregio is clearly visible and the source is cited accordingly. Please give also the cartographer/designer/author credit and give full recognition to the data sources if named in the graphic.

If you have any questions, contact us:

Email: [email protected]

Phone: + 46 8 463 54 00

Source: Nordregio at www.nordregio.org