Employment holds a pivotal place in the development policy agenda of the countries of North Africa. The North African subregion suffers from a structurally high unemployment rate: 12.1% in 2019 (International Labor Organization, ILO), one of Africa's lowest employment rates (40.1% vs. a continental average of 58.8% in 2019), low labor market participation (45.7% compared to 60.7% for the global average), particularly among women (22.1%), and one of the world' s highest youth unemployment rates. According to ILO, youth Unemployment rate was 30.2% in 2019, compared to a world average of 13.6%,. Meanwhile, the gender gap in unemployment rates remains high across the subregion both for adults and youth, with the female youth unemployment rate at roughly 39.6%.
