Students seek information about job opportunities at the second Job Fair held in Đồng Tháp Province on October 8, 2026. VNA/VNS Photo Hồng Nhung

HÀ NỘI — About 1.6 million people aged 15-24 in Việt Nam were not in employment, education or training in Q3 2026, accounting for 11.2 per cent of the country’s youth population, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO).

The figure rose by around 195,100 from the previous quarter, despite broader improvements in the labour market, with the rate of underutilised labour falling to its lowest level in years.

The NSO’s latest report on labour and employment in Q3 and the first nine months of 2026 showed contrasting trends. While employment continued to grow and labour underutilisation declined, the number of young people not in employment, education or training increased significantly.

According to the NSO, the third-quarter rise was partly seasonal, as many students graduate from universities, colleges and vocational schools during this period and begin transitioning from education into the labour market.

Some young people temporarily fall outside both education and employment while searching for jobs or deciding on their next steps.

Although this group increased from the previous quarter, the NSO said it remained relatively low compared with those in many countries in the region and worldwide, indicating that the transition from education and training to employment in Việt Nam was generally proceeding smoothly.

However, there is still room to bring the rate down further. Better career guidance, more effective educational streaming and stronger links between young people, businesses and the labour market could help shorten the transition from school to work, it said.

The trend also highlights the need for better labour-market information, as young graduates often face a mismatch between their fields of study and practical skills and the requirements of employers.

Meanwhile, broader labour-market indicators continued to improve.

Việt Nam had approximately 1.9 million underutilised workers in the third quarter, equivalent to 3.6 per cent of the labour force, the lowest rate in several years, according to the NSO. The rate averaged 3.9 per cent in the first nine months of the year.

Labour underutilisation measures the extent to which available labour resources are not fully used by the economy, reflecting imbalances between labour supply and demand.

Some degree of underutilisation persists even under normal economic conditions, but the rate can rise sharply during economic or social shocks.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the rate in Việt Nam reached 10.4 per cent in the third quarter of 2021, its highest level in recent years. It subsequently declined and has remained at around 4 per cent in recent years.

The labour force also continued to expand. Việt Nam had nearly 54.1 million workers in the third quarter of 2026, up 278,400 from the previous quarter. Of these, nearly 53 million were employed, an increase of 0.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter and 1.4 per cent year-on-year.

Urban areas accounted for approximately 20.8 million employed people, or 39.3 per cent of total employment, while rural areas had around 32.1 million, an increase of 152,100 from the previous quarter.

The increase of more than 195,000 young people outside employment, education and training in a single quarter nevertheless points to gaps in the connection between the education system and the labour market.

The NSO suggested strengthening career guidance from an early stage, providing more relevant recruitment information, improving cooperation between educational institutions and businesses, and equipping young people with job-ready skills will be important to shortening the transition from graduation to employment. — VNS