📊 Sri Lanka Faces Asia’s Highest Educated Youth Unemployment at 43%

• Overall Figures: Youth unemployment (ages 15–24) among those with advanced or postsecondary education in Sri Lanka has climbed to 43%, according to IMF research. Sri Lanka now leads Asia in educated youth joblessness, surpassing regional peers such as Bangladesh (36%) and India. • Core Drivers: The acute labor shortage in high-skilled roles stems from a persistent mismatch between university qualifications and real-world employer skill requirements, alongside broader pandemic-era economic shocks and regional inflation. • Tech Impact: Rapid integration of artificial intelligence (AI) poses risks to entry-level employment by automating complex tasks traditionally assigned to recent university graduates, further shrinking junior job opportunities.