By The Pulseline News Desk
Sri Lanka is recording one of the most striking gaps between education and employment in the region, with unemployment among highly educated youth reaching around 43%, according to an analysis published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The IMF analysis has shown that Sri Lanka has the highest unemployment rate among young people with post-secondary education among the Asian economies featured in its comparison, highlighting the growing difficulty faced by educated youth in transitioning from classrooms into the labour market.
According to the IMF chart, around 43% of Sri Lankans aged 15–24 with post-secondary education are unemployed. The comparable figure is around 42% in India and approximately 36% in Bangladesh, while several other Asian economies recorded rates below 20%.
The figures point to a particularly sharp employment challenge for Sri Lanka’s educated younger generation, where obtaining higher levels of education has not necessarily translated into access to suitable employment.
The problem becomes more evident when youth unemployment is compared with the overall unemployment rate.
Sri Lanka’s unemployment rate among those aged 15–24 is around 22%, compared with an overall unemployment rate of approximately 4% across all age groups.
However, among people of all ages with advanced education, unemployment is only around 6% — significantly below the rate recorded among highly educated youth.
The disparity suggests that the difficulty is concentrated particularly among young people attempting to make the transition from education into employment.
Education-employment mismatch
The IMF has highlighted the figures in the context of the challenges young graduates face when entering labour markets, including mismatches between the qualifications acquired through education and the types of jobs available.
For Sri Lanka, the issue raises questions about whether the education system and labour market are producing and absorbing skills at the same pace.
A high unemployment rate among educated youth can also represent a significant economic cost, particularly when substantial public and household resources have been invested in education.
For young people, prolonged periods without employment can delay entry into the workforce, income generation and independent living, while also increasing pressure to seek opportunities overseas.
The figures are particularly significant for Sri Lanka, which has experienced a sustained outflow of skilled and educated workers in recent years amid economic and employment pressures.
A wider labour-market challenge
The IMF data also show that Sri Lanka’s youth employment problem cannot be explained simply by a lack of education.
While unemployment among people with advanced education across all age groups is around 6%, the rate among 15–24-year-olds with the same education level is several times higher.
This indicates that age and the transition from education to employment are important dimensions of the country’s labour-market challenge.
The IMF defines youth as people aged 15–24, while advanced education refers to post-secondary education.
The data therefore underscore a challenge extending beyond simply creating more jobs: Sri Lanka also needs to ensure that the skills acquired by young people correspond more closely with the requirements of the economy.
As the country continues its economic recovery, the ability to translate improved economic conditions into productive employment for educated young people is likely to remain a critical issue.
For Sri Lanka, the sharp gap between the unemployment rate of highly educated youth and that of educated workers across all age groups highlights the importance of addressing the school-to-work transition, skills mismatches and the availability of suitable entry-level employment.
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