Historic reduction of “NEET” youth in the Dominican Republic: A boost to national development
The Dominican Republic is recording significant progress in the integration of its youth into the productive and academic apparatus. According to the most recent data from the Central Bank’s National Labor Force Survey, the population of young people between 14 and 24 years old who neither study nor work, known as “NEETs,” has decreased drastically, going from 28.3% in 2020 to 16.59% in the first quarter of 2026.
This figure represents the effective incorporation of more than 200 thousand young people into professional and educational growth spaces, placing the country even below the records obtained in 2019, when the rate stood at 18.03%.
Public policies and youth employment promotion
The authorities attribute this decline to the strategies implemented by President Luis Abinader’s administration, aimed at boosting the labor market and expanding academic offerings. Among the most notable results is the drop in youth unemployment, which went from 15.7% in 2019 to 12.4% at the end of 2025.
Strengthening programs like Oportunidad 14-24 has been key to transforming the future of more than 35 thousand young people who were previously excluded from the country’s educational and labor system.
Educational infrastructure and technical training
The government has reinforced its commitment to education through the expansion of infrastructure nationwide, highlighting the following actions:
- Expansion of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) with new extensions in various provinces.
- Enrollment of more than 861,860 high school students, with a strengthened focus on the technical-professional modality, which already has more than 98,485 students.
- Opening of 47 new INFOTEP training centers and 8 new centers of the Technological Institute of the Americas (ITLA).
- Implementation of the Beca Tu Futuro program, which facilitates access to university and technical degrees, prioritizing STEM areas and high-demand labor skills.
Representatives of the Social Policy Cabinet and the Vice Ministry of Government Monitoring emphasized that these advances are endorsed by international organizations. The report “Between School and Work” by the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC) confirms that the downward trend in the Dominican “NEET” (neither in education nor employment) population reaches levels of positive impact comparable to the standards observed in other nations in the region.
