BBC Breakfast today had the above headline story of 1 012 000 16 to 24 year-olds not in employment, education and training.

All things being equal, with 8% of the population, you’d expect the figure in Scotland to be around 81 000.

Scotland does not publish a single official NEET figure for the full 16–24 age group using the same definition as the UK-wide Labour Force Survey (LFS). Instead, it focuses on a more comprehensive Annual Participation Measure (APM) for ages 16–19 and the figure for that is around 9 000.

https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/media/2y3ex4it/2025-annual-participation-measure-statistics.pdf

On the basis of the above, the Scottish figure for 16-24 year-olds? Based on AI:

Rough estimate for Scotland 16–24: Scotland’s total population was ~5.55 million in mid-2024. The 16–24 age group is roughly 9–11% of the population (based on historical distributions), suggesting around 500,000–600,000 people in this age band. Applying a plausible overall NEET rate of ~10–13% (lower than UK average due to strong 16–19 participation, points to a ballpark figure of roughly 50,000.

We do know precisely that unemployment among young people is significantly lower in Scotland.

The above, presented as applying to the UK as a whole, formed part of a BBC Breakfast report 2 May 2026 including these comments:

Being out of work or education between the ages of 16 and 24 can have serious long-term consequences for people’s health, employment and finances later in life. A new study suggests that nearly one million young people are currently not in education, employment or training across the UK (sic)

The latest, January 2026, figure for Scotland is 10.2%. 15.8% is 54.9% higher.

https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/media/l2qpgqbx/economy-people-and-skills-january-2026.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com

In a wider European context, Scotland has one of the lowest rates in Western Europe:

The 10.2% figure would put Scotland in the second lowest category (8-12% pale orange) with Finland and the Baltic States, while the UK (England) would be in a higher category with (12-16%) with France and Portugal.

Now, to end in the usual way, who gets the credit for this after 19 years of SNP rule? If it was the other way round, you know it would be John Swinney and the SNP to blame so what reason is there not to give at least a fair whack of it?