One in 17 young people in Scotland are not in education, work or training, figures have revealed.
SNP ministers have said getting 16 to 19-year-olds into jobs or helping them develop skills is one of their main priorities.
The proportion of people in this age group who are in training, work or education is one of 20 “measures of success” for the government’s national strategy for economic transformation.
The proportion has fallen to 5.7 per cent this year — down from 7.8 per cent in the Covid-ravaged 2021 and 7.6 per cent last year.
In its official progress report on the strategy last summer, the government stressed that it would take time for programmes to have effect.