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Youth unemployment is one of the top problems that the Zambian government faces, although it has become a universal issue in every country. Even developed countries are upfront with the issue. OECD countries like Spain and Italy have 28.9% and 22.3% Youth unemployment rates respectively.
Youth unemployment is one of the top problems that the Zambian government faces, although it has become a universal issue in every country. Even developed countries are upfront with the issue. OECD countries like Spain and Italy have 28.9% and 22.3% Youth unemployment rates respectively. Youth unemployment rates in Costa Rica is (27.8%), Sweden 24.9%, Chile (19.6%), South Africa (51.5%), Botswana (38.8%), Namibia (39.78%), and Greece (23.6%). China is also facing high youth unemployment. China’s latest Youth unemployment rate which was announced in June 2023, was 21.3%.
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It is important to put the Chinese youth unemployment problem in context. In March 2023, the Chinese government invited applicants to sit for the Civil service examinations, a pre-requisite to getting a job in the competitive Chinese Civil Service. There were 7.7 million applicants for 200,000 openings. While Chinese youth unemployment can be traced to high restrictions imposed during COVID-19 days and toxic relations between China and the US, there are country-specific reasons that led to massive unemployment.
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In Zambia, there is no readily available data on youth unemployment, although there are clear indications that it is on the higher side. The reasonable guess is that Zambia’s Youth unemployment could be in the millions if the estimated number of youths leaving education institutions and entering the Labour market every year of between 300,000 to 350,000 is accurate.
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The Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA), is concerned with the country’s high level of unemployment. ZICA President Cecilia Zimba expressed her concern about the high level of unemployment in Zambia and described it as a ‘Time Bomb”, if no practical policy actions are taken. She pressed the need for putting in place measures to capture employment data on a timely basis and report periodically in the same manner inflation and policy rates are reported. Employment, she pointed out, should be regarded as a key economic variable with a measurable target like GDP, inflation, and exchange rate among others.
