YOUTH AND EXCLUSION
OUR STATEMENT
Dhaka, Bangladesh (2025)
In 2025, there are currently 1.2 billion Youth aged between 15 and 24 years old in the world. Almost 700 million of them currently live below the poverty threshold of US$2.15 per day, malnourished, victims of violence and abuse…
89%
of the world’s Youth population live in developing economies
56%
of employed Youth remain poor, according to the criteria of US$ 2.15 per day (2 euros)
40%
of the world’s population will be below the age of 25., by 2030
Today’s Youth are faced with a growing deficit of decent work opportunities and high levels of economic and social uncertainty.
For example in the Philippines, 15.5% of the entire population live bellow the national poverty live of 91 Php/day (or 1.56 USD/Day), and 4.3% in extreme poverty (less than 64 Php per day or 1.156 USD/Day). This corresponds to 17.5 million people in the philippines alone.
Moreover, the average age in the Philippines is 25,3 years old. Among this very young population, a lot of young Filipino adults are struggling every day to find a decent job and find money for their food.
"We cannot always build the future for our Youth, but we can build our Youth for the future"
Franklin D. Roosevelt
They will inherit tomorrow's world
Decisions made today around climate, economy, technology and institutions will directly shape the environment the Youth will live and work in for decades to come. They are the ones who will have to manage the long term consequences of current choices. As the United Nations Population Division notes, understanding changes in the Youth population's size, geographical distribution and key dimensions of well being helps ensure that demographic change contributes to a more equitable, inclusive, resilient and sustainable future for current and future generations.
Their potential is still under realized
This is exactly why inclusion matters. Globally, the out of school population has risen for a seventh consecutive year, up 3% since 2015 and reaching 273 million in 2024, meaning one in six children, adolescents and Youth worldwide are excluded from education. That gap represents lost potential, which is why organizations like the YIN and UN bodies emphasize inclusion as a precondition for the Youth to actually deliver on this promise.
They already are the majority in scale
In Asia-Pacific alone, there are approximately one billion Youth aged 10-24 years, accounting for 60% of the world's adolescents and young people, who have the power and potential to shape our future. A demographic weight this large will inevitably shape the workforce, political landscape and social fabric of coming decades simply because of sheer numbers.
Sources: United Nations, UNESCAP, International Labour Organization, UNESCO
Sources: ILO Report, UNESCO, United Nations Foundation
Dhaka, Bangladesh (2025)
