Millions of Young Indonesians Become “NEET”, Stuck at a Crossroad

Picture a 20-year-old. High school or college is done, but no job or any training program. Days spent scrolling through social media and helping out around the house. Not lazy, just lost.

If that sounds familiar, you have already met the phenomenon known as NEET. And in Indonesia, the number of young people in this situation is not in the tens of thousands. It is in the millions.

Image Source: euronews.com

What is NEET?

NEET stands for “Not in Employment, Education, or Training”, referring to young people between the ages of 15 and 24 who are not working, not studying, and not enrolled in any form of vocational training. [1]

What sets NEET apart from plain “unemployment“ is its broader scope. The conventional unemployment figure only counts those who are actively looking for work but have not found any. NEET also captures those who have given up looking entirely and stepped away from economic and educational life altogether. They do not show up in the usual statistics, but the risks they face are just as real.

It is also worth clarifying that NEET status is not the same as not having a formal job. Under the International Labour Organization (ILO) definition, the "employed" category covers both formal and informal work, including self-employment. So a young person driving for a ride-hailing app, working as a courier, running a small trade, or taking on freelance gigs does not fall under NEET, as long as they are actively working or running an income-generating business. [2]

The NEET Situation in Indonesia

According to the latest Sakernas data from BPS, Indonesia’s NEET rate for the 15 to 24 age group stood at 19.44% in 2025. With a total youth population of around 44.26 million in that age range, that translates to roughly 8.6 million young Indonesians who are currently not working, not in school, and not enrolled in any training program. [3]

The good news is the number has been falling. In 2023 it was 22.25%, equivalent to about 9.9 million people. It dropped to 20.31% in 2024, then to 19.44% in 2025. In just two years, more than 1.3 million young people have moved out of NEET status.

Compared to neighboring countries, though, Indonesia’s challenge remains significant. Indonesia’s NEET rate sits higher than Malaysia’s at 13.6%, the Philippines’ at 12.36%, and Singapore’s at 4.1%. To put the absolute numbers in perspective, Indonesia’s 8.6 million NEET youth are roughly 1.7 times the entire population of Singapore. [4]

The distribution within Indonesia is also far from even. North Sulawesi, Maluku, and Papua have consistently ranked among the highest, with Maluku appearing in the top three for three consecutive years, pointing to structural issues that go well beyond a statistical blip.

On the gender side, young women make up the majority of Indonesia’s NEET population. Research shows that early marriage is one of the most common entry points. Once married, domestic responsibilities create real and lasting barriers to returning to work or education. [5][6]

Why Do Young People End Up as NEET?

Becoming NEET is rarely a deliberate choice. It usually comes from a combination of pressures that pile up at once.

First, unequal access. Young people in rural areas and eastern Indonesia face significantly fewer educational institutions and job opportunities compared to their peers in major cities. This goes a long way in explaining why eastern provinces consistently top the NEET rankings. [5]

Second, a mismatch between education and the job market. Counterintuitively, young people with higher levels of education are actually more vulnerable to NEET status. Not because they lack competence, but because suitable roles for their qualifications simply are not available in sufficient numbers. The graduates exist; the right positions do not. [5]

Third, information isolation. Young people without internet access and those who are less socially engaged in their communities are proven to be at greater risk of becoming NEET. They are cut off from information about job openings, scholarships, and training programs that do exist but never reach them. [6]

Is Being NEET More Dangerous in the Age of AI?

If NEET was already a serious problem before artificial intelligence (AI) entered the picture, the risks today are compounding fast.

Automation is eating into entry-level jobs, the very positions that have traditionally served as the first step for young people entering the workforce. Administrative roles, data entry, basic customer service, these are among the fastest-disappearing categories. That first rung of the ladder is getting harder to reach.

At the same time, the job market increasingly demands adaptability and digital literacy that need to be constantly refreshed. Young people in NEET status are not learning, not working, and not being trained, so every day they are falling further behind in building those capabilities. The ILO has found that NEET status can easily become permanent, particularly for young women. [1]

In short: before AI, being NEET was a problem. With AI, it risks becoming a trap that is much harder to escape.

What Can Be Done?

The solution cannot come from one direction alone.

On the policy side, the Indonesian government already has some relevant tools in place. The Kartu Prakerja program targets citizens aged 18 and above who are not currently in formal education, which puts it fairly close in profile to parts of the NEET population. [7]

The SIAPkerja platform, managed by the Indonesian Ministry of Manpower, brings together training, job search, skills certification, and entrepreneurship support into a single national digital ecosystem. [8]

But some gaps remain largely untouched. For young people in eastern Indonesia, the biggest barrier is often not a lack of skills or information. It is the cost of physically reaching the opportunities that already exist. Indonesia does not yet have a national policy providing relocation support or transitional housing for young people who want to move in search of work.

On the industry side, companies can step up by designing more inclusive internship and hiring programs that do not require years of prior experience as a condition of entry, and by actively partnering with vocational institutions.

While on the individual side, staying socially engaged and having internet access are genuine protective factors against NEET status. In the AI era, the ability to learn independently through online platforms is no longer just a nice-to-have. It is a real competitive edge. [6]

A Situation, Not an Identity

The data from the past three years proves that change is possible. More than 1.3 million young people left NEET status in just two years. That progress is real.

And for anyone who feels stuck at a crossroads right now, it is worth remembering that NEET is not an identity. It is a situation; and situations can change.

The AI era brings real new risks. But it also opens doors that have never existed before. Courses from the world’s top universities are accessible from a bedroom. Global learning communities are a tap away. Those doors are open, and it has never been easier to walk through them.

[1] ILO, “Young People Not in Employment, Education or Training,” Technical Brief No. 3 (2020). https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_emp/documents/publication/wcms_763819.pdf

[2] World Bank, World Development Indicators: Metadata for Indicator SL.UEM.NEET.ZS (Share of Youth Not in Education, Employment or Training). https://databank.worldbank.org/metadataglossary/world-development-indicators/series/SL.UEM.NEET.ZS

[3] BPS, Percentage of Youth (Aged 15-24 Years) Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET), Sakernas 2023-2025. https://www.bps.go.id/en/statistics-table/2/MTE4NiMy/percentage-of-youth--aged-15-24-years--not-in-education--employment-or-training--neet-.html

[4] World Bank Gender Data Portal, Share of Youth Not in Education, Employment or Training, Total (% of Youth Population), latest available estimates. https://genderdata.worldbank.org/en/indicator/sl-uem-neet-zs

[5] Anggraini, C. et al., “Phenomenon and Determinant Characteristics of NEET Youth in Matrilineal Province,” Jurnal Perspektif Pembiayaan dan Pembangunan Daerah, Vol. 7 No. 4 (2020). https://online-journal.unja.ac.id/JES/article/view/8690

[6] Pattinasarany, I.R.I., “Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET) Among the Youth in Indonesia,” Masyarakat: Jurnal Sosiologi, Vol. 24 No. 1 (2019). https://scholarhub.ui.ac.id/mjs/vol24/iss1/2

[7] Presidential Regulation of the Republic of Indonesia Number 113 of 2022 on the Amendment to Presidential Regulation Number 36 of 2020 on Competency Development through the Kartu Prakerja Program. Article 3 stipulates that recipients must be Indonesian citizens aged at least 18 years and not currently enrolled in formal education. https://peraturan.bpk.go.id/Details/225309/perpres-no-113-tahun-2022

[8] Regulation of the Minister of Manpower of the Republic of Indonesia Number 17 of 2024 on the Employment Information System, establishing SIAPkerja as the national digital employment services ecosystem covering training, job search, certification, and entrepreneurship. https://peraturan.bpk.go.id/Download/373540/permenaker-no-17-tahun-2024.pdf

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