How much has the youth gained from growth? – Fahmida Khatun

Bangladesh is a country of about 160 million people. The share of population within 15-24 years is close to 20 percent and the median age of its people are a little over 26 years. Thus Bangladesh is uniquely positioned to reap the benefits of this “demographic dividend”. But how many of them have the opportunity to enter the labour market? According to official statistics, overall unemployment rate is 4.2 percent in Bangladesh. However, youth unemployment rate is 10.6 percent. What do these young people do? Are they studying? Are they going through training? No, not all of them. The share of youth from within the total youth population in the country who are neither in education, nor in employment or training (NEET) is 29.8 percent.