Among young people aged 15 to 25 years, unemployment during the second quarter of 2012 increased by over 30 percent compared to 2011, from 82 thousand to 108 thousand. The unemployment rate is particularly high among young people not attending school.

Six out of ten young unemployed people are undertaking some form of education. In the second quarter of 2012, the number of students in regular education seeking a job increased nearly 25 percent compared to the same period in 2011 (to 64 thousand), while the number of unemployed young people not attending school grew by nearly 50 percent (from 31 to 45 thousand).

Although youth unemployment is currently high, climbing to nearly 13 percent in August, it has been worse in recent decades. The mid-'90s and mid-2000s saw high levels of youth unemployment, and in the early '80s, youth unemployment was at its highest in the past four decades, peaking at nearly 18 percent in 1983.

Note that over the past four decades, the youth unemployment rate has always been at least twice as high as the rate among 25 to 65-year-olds.

Source: Statistics Netherlands