Many young people in the European Union (EU) have reportedly dropped out of education or training programmes, according to new data released by Eurostat.
According to the figures from 2024, 14.2 per cent of people aged 15-34 left formal education programmes at least once in their lives.
The overall rate, however, conceals wide disparities between member states. The highest dropout rates were recorded in the Netherlands (32.2 per cent), Denmark (27.1 per cent), Luxembourg (24.8 per cent) and Estonia (24.4 per cent).
At the other end of the scale, the lowest shares of young people who had ever left formal education or training were recorded in Romania (1.5 per cent), Greece (2.2 per cent), and Bulgaria (3.5 per cent).
Across all education levels, the most commonly cited reason for not completing a programme was that it failed to meet expectations or was too difficult, accounting for 42.6 per cent of cases.
Other factors included family or personal reasons (18.5 per cent) and a preference for entering the workforce (13.8 per cent). Financial considerations were mentioned by only 5.3 per cent of respondents.
Reasons for leaving also varied by education level, with programme-related issues more frequently reported at higher levels of education, while personal or family factors were more prominent at lower levels. Illness or disability accounted for a higher share of dropouts at lower education levels than at medium or high levels.
The data released by Eurostat is part of the EU Labour Force Survey 2024, which included the eight-yearly module on young people in the labour market.
