Global Youth Development Report 2020

Cover image of the Commonwealth Global Youth Development Index 2020 report
Youth Development Index

The Youth Development Index (YDI) is a resource for researchers, policy-makers and civil society, including young people, to track progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) associated with youth development.

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What is the Youth Development Index?

The Youth Development Index (YDI) is a resource for researchers, policy-makers and civil society, including young people, to track progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) associated with youth development.

Youth development is a process that enhances the status of young people, empowering them to build on their competences and capabilities for life and enabling them to contribute and benefit from a politically stable, economically viable and legally supportive environment, ensuring their full participation as active citizens in their countries.

The 2020 YDI measures progress in 181 countries, including 48 of the 54 Commonwealth countries, across six domains of youth development:

  • Health and Wellbeing
  • Education
  • Employment and Opportunity
  • Political and Civic Participation
  • Equality and Inclusion
  • Peace and Security.

Changes in 27 indicators across the six domains are tracked over the period 2010–2018. Where indicators are used that refer specifically to the situation of the youth population, the definition of 'youth' is of persons 15–29 years old (though in some cases data is available only for those 15–24 years old).

The methodology and indicators used to compile the YDI have been updated since the last report in 2016 and, for the first time, levels of 'Peace and Security' and 'Equality and Inclusion' are being measured. Full details of the indicators comprising the index and the methodology are found in Chapter 1 and Annex 1 of the report.

Supporters of the 2020 YDI

The 2020 YDI was updated by the Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP) and supported by our partners the United Nations Population Division, UNESCO Institute for Statistics, International Labour Organization (ILO), World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Bank. We thank the Commonwealth Youth Council, the African Union and representatives from governments, and research institutions who provided validation through the YDI Technical Group of Experts.

How should we interpret the YDI?

The YDI is a tool that compares scores between countries and regions but does not provide insight on variations or inequalities in youth development within a country. It also does not measure every aspect of youth development – focusing instead on a core set of indicators that expert literature has shown heavily influences development outcomes for young people. There is a strong relationship between the YDI and most of the SDGs – meaning that countries that perform well on youth development also tend to have made greater progress towards the SDGs.

The YDI score is a number between 0 and 1, with a score of 1 representing the highest level of youth development across all indicators, and a score of 0 indicating little to no youth development. In Chapter 2 of the report, countries are grouped into one of four categories – 'very high', 'high', 'medium' and 'low' – which reflect their position on a spectrum ranging from 'relatively good' to 'relatively poor' levels of youth development. The scoring system is the same as the one that underpins the Human Development Index. The 2020 YDI categories by score are as follows.

Level of youth development Score range
Low 0.000–0.595
Medium 0.595–0.691
High 0.691–0.78
Very high 0.78–1.000

How should we use the YDI?

The YDI allows us to take a temperature check on progress towards youth development in the world. Increasing or declining scores signal the need for further investigation and dialogue on the situation of young people and prompt action to scale up good practice or undertake reforms. It is not a definitive diagnosis or situation analysis of each country’s policies or programmes. However, it is an indication of collective progress or decline towards ensuring that young people are not left behind in the pursuit of the SDGs.

Key findings for 2020

On average, youth development has been improving, although progress is slow. Between 2010 and 2018, the global average youth development score improved by 3.1 per cent.

156 of the 181 countries included in the index (86 per cent) improved their scores. Singapore had the highest level of youth development and Chad the lowest.

Top 10 Global Countries by Rank

  1. Singapore

  2. Slovenia

  3. Norway

  4. Malta

  5. Denmark

  6. Sweden

  7. Switzerland

  8. Netherlands

  9. Ireland

  10. Luxembourg

Tracking progress in the Commonwealth is important, given that more than 60 per cent of its population of over 2 billion is under 30 years old. Of the 48 Commonwealth countries included in the 2020 YDI, 40 (83 per cent) improved their scores. The Commonwealth average score improved by 2.8 per cent, compared with a 3.1 per cent improvement in the global average.

Although two Commonwealth countries (Singapore and Malta) are in the top 10 of global countries, one (Mozambique) is in the lowest-ranked countries. More than half of the Commonwealth countries included in the index are in the low or medium youth development categories.

The results

The key findings of the 2020 YDI are that:

  • The global average youth development score improved by 3.1 per cent between 2010 and 2018.
  • Singapore had the highest level of youth development on the 2020 YDI, followed by Slovenia, Norway, Malta and Sweden.
  • Chad had the lowest level, followed by Central African Republic, Niger, Afghanistan and South Sudan.
  • Of the 181 countries included on the 2020 YDI, 156, or 86 per cent, recorded improvements in the eight year period.
  • The top five risers from 2010 to 2018 were Afghanistan, India, Russia, Ethiopia and Burkina Faso.
  • Syria, Ukraine, Libya, Yemen and Jordan were the largest fallers.
  • On average, the top five risers improved their score by 15.74 per cent while the five largest fallers saw an average deterioration of 10.28 per cent.
  • The global average improved in five out of the six domains on the YDI.
  • The largest global improvement was recorded in Health and Well-being, which improved by 4.39 per cent between 2010 and 2018.
  • Political and Civic Participation was the only domain to record an average global deterioration, albeit minimal, at 0.18 per cent.

Overall YDI 2020 scores of all 181 countries, ranked

Rank Country Score

1

Singapore

0.875

2

Slovenia

0.866

3

Norway

0.862

4

Malta

0.859

5

Denmark

0.858

6

Sweden

0.857

7

Switzerland

0.849

8

Netherlands

0.848

9

Ireland

0.846

10

Portugal

0.845

10

Luxembourg

0.845

12

Austria

0.842

13

Belgium

0.839

14

Spain

0.833

15

Iceland

0.831

15

Germany

0.831

17

Finland

0.827

18

Cyprus

0.825

19

New Zealand

0.824

20

South Korea

0.821

21

Hungary

0.819

22

Croatia

0.818

23

Italy

0.816

23

Japan

0.816

25

Slovakia

0.815

25

Israel

0.815

27

Kuwait

0.814

28

Czechia

0.811

29

France

0.807

29

Australia

0.807

31

Latvia

0.805

32

Qatar

0.802

32

Serbia

0.802

34

Greece

0.799

34

Lithuania

0.799

36

Canada

0.798

36

Estonia

0.798

36

Poland

0.798

39

Maldives

0.794

40

Montenegro

0.793

40

United Kingdom

0.793

42

Macedonia

0.791

43

Romania

0.784

44

Bulgaria

0.783

45

Chile

0.782

46

Taiwan

0.780

47

Barbados

0.779

47

Bahrain

0.779

49

Brunei

0.777

50

Malaysia

0.775

51

Belarus

0.774

52

Oman

0.769

53

Bosnia & Herzegovina

0.768

54

Mauritius

0.766

55

Albania

0.764

56

United Arab Emirates

0.763

57

Saudi Arabia

0.760

58

Mongolia

0.758

59

Costa Rica

0.750

60

Fiji

0.748

61

Sri Lanka

0.747

62

China

0.745

63

Cuba

0.744

63

Vietnam

0.744

65

United States

0.737

66

Grenada

0.736

66

Armenia

0.736

68

Uruguay

0.734

68

Peru

0.734

70

Kazakhstan

0.731

70

Georgia

0.731

72

Samoa

0.728

73

Turkey

0.725

73

Seychelles

0.725

75

Jamaica

0.724

75

Tonga

0.724

77

Bhutan

0.719

78

Cape Verde

0.717

78

Jordan

0.717

80

St. Lucia

0.716

81

Tunisia

0.714

82

Russia

0.709

83

Moldova

0.706

84

Thailand

0.704

85

Panama

0.701

85

Lebanon

0.701

87

Argentina

0.699

88

Kyrgyzstan

0.696

88

Indonesia

0.696

90

Azerbaijan

0.693

91

Bolivia

0.691

91

Tajikistan

0.691

93

Morocco

0.690

94

Algeria

0.689

94

Nepal

0.689

96

Paraguay

0.687

97

Cambodia

0.685

98

Uzbekistan

0.681

99

Iran

0.677

100

Timor-Leste

0.676

101

Trinidad & Tobago

0.674

102

Nicaragua

0.673

103

Ecuador

0.672

104

Bahamas

0.670

105

Dominican Republic

0.668

106

São Tomé & Príncipe

0.661

107

Ukraine

0.660

108

Botswana

0.659

108

Palestinian Territories

0.659

110

Libya

0.657

111

Solomon Islands

0.656

112

Turkmenistan

0.653

113

Colombia

0.646

114

Suriname

0.645

114

Gabon

0.645

116

Brazil

0.637

117

Mexico

0.636

118

Kiribati

0.635

119

Namibia

0.632

120

Vanuatu

0.628

121

Comoros

0.627

122

India

0.626

123

Egypt

0.624

124

Belize

0.619

125

Guyana

0.617

126

Bangladesh

0.616

127

El Salvador

0.615

128

Venezuela

0.612

128

Djibouti

0.612

130

Myanmar (Burma)

0.610

131

South Africa

0.608

131

Ghana

0.608

133

Senegal

0.603

133

Philippines

0.603

135

Haiti

0.598

136

Honduras

0.595

136

Laos

0.595

138

Sierra Leone

0.580

139

Gambia

0.577

139

Kenya

0.577

141

Togo

0.575

142

Rwanda

0.574

143

Mauritania

0.573

144

Papua New Guinea

0.572

145

Liberia

0.567

146

Equatorial Guinea

0.564

147

Guatemala

0.562

148

Tanzania

0.559

148

Eritrea

0.559

150

Sudan

0.557

150

Burundi

0.557

152

Swaziland

0.553

153

Syria

0.551

154

Zambia

0.548

155

Benin

0.547

156

Madagascar

0.544

157

Uganda

0.534

158

Ethiopia

0.529

159

Zimbabwe

0.528

160

Cameroon

0.527

161

Nigeria

0.520

162

Pakistan

0.517

163

Lesotho

0.511

164

Congo - Brazzaville

0.509

165

Guinea-Bissau

0.508

166

Burkina Faso

0.506

166

Angola

0.506

168

Guinea

0.500

168

Iraq

0.500

170

Congo - Kinshasa

0.499

171

Malawi

0.484

172

Yemen

0.474

173

Mozambique

0.460

174

Côte d’Ivoire

0.457

175

Mali

0.447

176

Somalia

0.436

177

Niger

0.424

178

Afghanistan

0.421

178

South Sudan

0.421

180

Central African Republic

0.399

181

Chad

0.398

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