Back in January 2013, of 198 countries, only 99 (50%) had a current youth policy. 15 months later, the situation has changed impressively. Here’s a summary guide to the 2014 publication of the Youth Policy Labs annual review of the state of youth policy around the world. The report, which combines data, research and published articles, was officially launched in Sri Lanka at the World Conference on Youth in May 2014.
Which countries have a national youth policy?
As of April 2014, of 198 countries, 122 countries (62%) have a national youth policy, up from 99 (50%) in 2013. Across all continents, 37 states (19%) are either developing a new or revising their current youth policy, down from 56 (28%) in 2013. 31 countries have no national youth policy at the moment (16%), down from 43 (22%) in 2013. Of those, 14 are in Africa, 9 in Asia, 5 in the Americas, and 3 in Europe.
See the map and the key numbers in the table below.
The full report (pdf, 10 MB) is available in our library, including an overview of where national youth platforms (page 29 ff.) and national youth authorities (page 33 ff.) for youth exist.
You can access and download most of the existing national youth policies as well as drafts for youth policies under revision at https://www.youthpolicy.org/nationalyouthpolicies/, where we maintain the most comprehensive global overview of national youth policies.
![National Youth Policies [April 2014]](https://www.youthpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/State_Youth_Policy_20140508.png)
Full details for the regions of the world are in the table below.
We use the UN Statistics Division’s geoscheme to refer to the geographical (continental) regions and geographical sub-regions of the world (additional info).
Note that the existence of a national youth policy does not necessarily mean that it is being implemented – or that it is particularly good for young people.
With the 2015 report on the state of youth policy, we will introduce additional detail with regard to the implementation and quality of existing national youth policies.
| Region | Subregion | Total countries (n) | NYP exists (n) | NYP exists (%) | Under revision (n) | Under revision (%) | No NYP at all (n) | No NYP at all (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| World (status quo: April 28, 2014) | ||||||||
| World total in 2014 | 198 | 122 | 62 % | 37 | 19 % | 32 | 16 % | |
| World total in 2013 | 198 | 99 | 50 % | 56 | 28 % | 43 | 22 % | |
| Africa | ||||||||
| Eastern Africa | 18 | 7 | 39 % | 7 | 39 % | 3 | 17 % | |
| Middle Africa | 9 | 3 | 33 % | 1 | 11 % | 4 | 44 % | |
| Northern Africa | 6 | 1 | 17 % | 1 | 17 % | 4 | 67 % | |
| Southern Africa | 5 | 4 | 80 % | 1 | 20 % | 0 | 0 % | |
| Western Africa | 16 | 8 | 50 % | 4 | 25 % | 3 | 19 % | |
| Africa total in 2014 | 54 | 23 | 43 % | 14 | 26 % | 14 | 26 % | |
| Africa total in 2013 | 54 | 21 | 39 % | 16 | 30 % | 17 | 31 % | |
| Americas | ||||||||
| Latin America & Caribbean | ||||||||
| Caribbean | 14 | 7 | 50 % | 3 | 21 % | 2 | 14 % | |
| Central America | 8 | 7 | 88 % | 1 | 13 % | 0 | 0 % | |
| South America | 12 | 7 | 58 % | 2 | 17 % | 2 | 17 % | |
| Subtotal LAC | 34 | 21 | 62 % | 6 | 18 % | 4 | 12 % | |
| Northern America | ||||||||
| Northern America | 2 | 1 | 50 % | 1 | 50 % | 0 | 0 % | |
| Subtotal NA | 2 | 1 | 50 % | 1 | 50 % | 0 | 0 % | |
| Americas total 2014 | 36 | 22 | 61 % | 6 | 17 % | 5 | 14 % | |
| Americas total 2013 | 36 | 17 | 47 % | 14 | 39 % | 5 | 14 % | |
| Asia | ||||||||
| Central Asia | 5 | 5 | 100 % | 0 | 0 % | 0 | 0 % | |
| Eastern Asia | 6 | 4 | 67 % | 0 | 0 % | 1 | 17 % | |
| Southern Asia | 9 | 6 | 67 % | 1 | 11 % | 2 | 22 % | |
| South-Eastern Asia | 11 | 6 | 55 % | 3 | 27 % | 2 | 18 % | |
| Western Asia | 18 | 7 | 39 % | 7 | 39 % | 4 | 22 % | |
| Asia total in 2014 | 49 | 28 | 57 % | 11 | 22 % | 9 | 18 % | |
| Asia total in 2013 | 49 | 23 | 47 % | 14 | 29 % | 12 | 24 % | |
| Europe | ||||||||
| Eastern Europe | 10 | 9 | 90 % | 0 | 0 % | 0 | 0 % | |
| Northern Europe | 10 | 9 | 90 % | 0 | 0 % | 1 | 10 % | |
| Southern Europe | 15 | 11 | 73 % | 3 | 20 % | 1 | 7 % | |
| Western Europe | 9 | 6 | 67 % | 2 | 22 % | 1 | 11 % | |
| Europe total in 2014 | 44 | 35 | 80 % | 5 | 11 % | 3 | 7 % | |
| Europe total in 2013 | 44 | 27 | 61 % | 8 | 18 % | 9 | 20 % | |
| Oceania | ||||||||
| Australia & New Z. | 2 | 2 | 100 % | 0 | 0 % | 0 | 0 % | |
| Melanesia | 4 | 4 | 100 % | 0 | 0 % | 0 | 0 % | |
| Micronesia | 5 | 5 | 100 % | 0 | 0 % | 0 | 0 % | |
| Polynesia | 4 | 3 | 75 % | 1 | 25 % | 0 | 0 % | |
| Oceania total 2014 | 15 | 14 | 93 % | 1 | 7 % | 0 | 0 % | |
| Oceania total 2013 | 15 | 11 | 73 % | 4 | 27 % | 0 | 0 % | |
| World | ||||||||
| World total in 2014 | 198 | 122 | 62 % | 37 | 19 % | 31 | 16 % | |
| World total in 2013 | 198 | 99 | 50 % | 56 | 28 % | 43 | 22 % | |
If you would like to access existing national youth policies as well as drafts for youth policies that are currently under revision, head over to https://www.youthpolicy.org/nationalyouthpolicies/, where we maintain the most comprehensive global overview of national youth policies.
The full report (pdf, 10 MB) is available in our library, including an overview of where national youth platforms (page 29 ff.) and national youth authorities (page 33 ff.) for youth exist.
How could we resist? Here is our postcard for the launch event of the 2014 report :)
