In 2023, the share of young people aged up to 29 neither in employment nor in education, stands at 13.8%, as compared to 15.1% a year earlier. Compared to the other EU countries, this percentage remains high.

1/7^th of the young people who are inactive have university degrees, but among them women on maternity leave prevail. Many of the young people who do not work have no education, or are from the minorities, which is a risk factor. The population of working age is shrinking quickly, and this could restrict economic development and investments, researcher Adrian Nikolov from the Institute for Market Economics says for 24 Chasa newspaper. Other risk factors are the lack of planned professional education that can take into account the needs of the labour market, he adds. There is an acute shortage of workers in industry such as welders, machinists, turners, for whom there is a considerable demand, so an increase in salaries is to be expected, Adrian Nikolov says.