Majority say country's economic condition is bad, but two-thirds expect things to get better in the near future.
Key findings
- Seven in 10 young Zambians (71%) have secondary or post-secondary education, significantly surpassing older generations.
- But they are also more likely to be unemployed: 36% say they are looking for a job, higher than the national average of 30%.
- Management of the economy ranks as the most important problem that Zambian youth (aged 18-35 years) want their government to address, followed by health, infrastructure/roads, water supply, and unemployment.
- Half (51%) of young Zambians say the government is doing a good job of managing the economy, and 71% offer favourable assessments on job creation. Fewer approve of the government's performance on improving basic health care (44%), providing water and sanitation services (43%), and maintaining roads and bridges (31%).
- A slim majority (53%) of youth say the country is going in "the right direction." While 52% describe the nation's economic condition as bad, 65% expect things to improve over the coming year.
- Young citizens are less likely than their elders to engage in political and civic activities such as voting, attending community meetings, joining others to raise an issue, and contacting their elected representatives.
Zambia has a young population, with about half under the age of 18 and 72% younger than 30. This demographic profile presents both amazing possibilities and major challenges for making youth a critical resource for the country's development in the years ahead (Population Council and UNFPA, 2018; UNESCO, 2022; FHI 360, 2022; Zambia Statistics Agency, 2024).
Efforts to empower young Zambians include the government's revised National Youth Policy, Adolescent Health Strategy, and programmes that provide financial resources to youth for starting businesses and other entrepreneurship activities (Population Council and UNFPA, 2018; Government of Zambia, 2016; UNESCO, 2022; Ministry of Youth and Sport, 2015).
Despite these initiatives, young people continue to face an uncertain future marked by growing unemployment and rising costs of living. Many youth who are employed work in the informal sector, which is characterised by low wages and a lack of career progression (Chooma, 2022; Population Council and UNFPA, 2018). The Global Youth Development Index ranks Zambia as a "low youth development" country, placing it 154th out of 181 countries (Commonwealth, 2021).
But in their country's 2021 election, Zambian youth served notice of their potential power: Voter turnout among young people increased to its highest level in the past decade in a protest vote that was widely credited with voting out a ruling party whose tenure was characterised by unemployment, a rising cost of living, and the erosion of democracy and human rights (Chooma, 2022; Mail & Guardian, 2021; FHI 360, 2022).
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This dispatch reports on insights into the situation of youth in Zambia based on Afrobarometer's Round 9 survey in 2022.
Findings show that while young people are more educated than their elders, they are also more likely to be unemployed. Management of the economy, health, infrastructure, water supply, and unemployment are the top issues that young people want the government to address.
Zambian youth are divided in their views on the country's overall direction and economic condition, but a solid majority expect things to get better in the near future.
Notwithstanding their role in the 2021 election, young Zambians are significantly less likely than their elders to engage in political and civic activities, including voting.
Anne Okello Anne is the assistant project manager for East Africa
Edward Chibwili Edward Chibwili is the national investigator for Zambia.
