COLOMBO, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka has recorded the highest unemployment rate among young people with advanced education in a group of Asian economies examined by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), local news outlet Newswire reported Monday.
According to a chart published in the September 2026 edition of the IMF's "Finance & Development" magazine, based on 2025, or the latest available data, about 43 percent of Sri Lankans aged 15 to 24 with post-secondary education are unemployed. The figure is the highest among the economies compared, ahead of India at about 42 percent and Bangladesh at about 36 percent.
The data showed that youth unemployment across Asia is often substantially higher among those with advanced education than among the general population. The pattern is particularly pronounced in South Asia.
The findings point to a problem extending beyond the availability of jobs, with graduates increasingly facing a mismatch between their qualifications and the skills demanded by employers. Similar pressures have been reported across Asian economies, although the scale differs considerably between countries.
Technological change could further complicate the situation. The IMF noted that artificial intelligence has the potential to improve productivity and economic growth, but could also increase labor-market pressure on young workers if adoption advances faster than skills development. ■