Youth political participation takes many forms: voting, signing petitions, volunteering, sharing political content, joining protests and seeking elected office. Recent OECD, EU and Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) figures show substantial engagement among young people, alongside persistent gaps in turnout, trust and representation. The measures below cover different populations and periods, so each statistic retains its original age band, geography and definition.
Contents
- Voting and intentions to vote
- Petitions, volunteering and digital action
- Political interest, trust and influence
- Young people in national parliaments
- Chamber, gender and proportionality gaps
- Countries with higher youth representation
Voting and intentions to vote
Voting remains the most visible measure of political participation, but youth turnout varies by election type and by comparison group. In the OECD’s 2023 Trust Survey, 68% of people aged 18–29 across OECD countries reported voting in the last national election. The same survey found that 41% of this age group reported voting in a local election during the previous 12 months. These are survey-based self-reports, not administrative turnout counts. (OECD, Trust in Government on complex policy issues, 2023)
The age gap becomes clearer in the OECD’s comparative election data. In OECD countries with available 2021 data, 61% of 18–29-year-olds voted in the last national election, compared with 88% of people aged 50 or older. In elections held around 2016–2021, average turnout among 18–24-year-olds was 12 percentage points below turnout among adults aged 25–50. In Lithuania, Portugal and Slovakia, youth turnout was at least 30% lower than turnout among 25–50-year-olds in the available comparative data. (OECD, Society at a Glance 2024, voting)
Surveyed intention can be higher than a completed-vote measure, and it refers to a specific future election. In the EU Youth and Democracy survey conducted from 3–12 April 2024, 64% of young people said they intended to vote in the June 2024 European elections. This result describes stated intention, rather than verified participation. (European Commission, New Eurobarometer survey shows young people’s active participation in civic and democratic life ahead of the upcoming European elections)
| Measure | Youth group and geography | Result | Period or reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Voted in last national election | Ages 18–29, OECD | 68% | 2023 survey |
| Voted in last national election | Ages 18–29, OECD countries with data | 61% | 2021 data |
| Voted in a local election in previous 12 months | Ages 18–29, OECD | 41% | 2023 survey |
| Intended to vote in European elections | Young people, EU survey | 64% | Surveyed 3–12 April 2024 |
Petitions, volunteering and digital action
Voting is only one route into public life. In the 2024 EU Youth Survey, 26% of respondents aged 16–30 said they had created or signed a petition. One in five, or 20%, had volunteered for a charity or campaign organisation. Another 19% had posted opinions online or on social media about a political or social issue, while 19% had boycotted or bought products for political, ethical or environmental reasons. The activity and platform questions allowed multiple answers, so these percentages should not be added together. (European Commission, Results of the 2024 EU Youth Survey)
Country comparisons in the OECD’s 2023 Trust Survey illustrate how some forms of participation can be especially prominent among younger people. In Ireland, 51% of people under 30 reported sharing political content on social media during the previous year, compared with 28% of people aged 30 or older. In Germany, 20% of young people reported volunteering for social or environmental causes, twice the 10% reported by older people. These comparisons use the source’s country-specific definitions and survey responses. (OECD, Trust in Government on complex policy issues, 2023)
Young people also use social platforms as political-information channels. Among respondents aged 16–30 in the 2024 EU Youth Survey, Instagram was a political-information platform for 47%, TikTok for 39% and YouTube for 37%. These figures measure reported use for political information; they do not measure whether content changed political views or behavior. (European Commission, Results of the 2024 EU Youth Survey)
Political interest, trust and influence
Participation statistics need to be read alongside political interest and confidence in institutions. One in four OECD young people aged 15–29 reported being not at all interested in politics in 2022 or the latest available year. The share was at least 50% in Chile, Czechia and Hungary, while it was below 10% in Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany and the Netherlands. The OECD notes that these figures use the available country data and the stated 15–29 age group. (OECD, Society at a Glance 2024, voting)
Trust in government was also lower among younger respondents in the 2024 OECD Trust Survey. Thirty-six percent of 18–29-year-olds reported high or moderately high trust in national government, compared with 43% of people aged 50 or older. The survey results were published in 2024 and refer to the 2023 survey period. (OECD, Enhancing Representation, Participation and Openness in Public Life, 2023 survey results published 2024)
Youth organisations identified institutional barriers to entering elected politics. In a 2020 survey, 51% identified limited opportunities within political parties as a barrier, 47% identified stereotypes portraying young people as inexperienced, and 22% identified minimum age requirements. In a 2020 survey of barriers to coordination with governments, 67% identified a lack of political will and leadership among government officials. (OECD, Pillar V – Trust of young people in government and public institutions, Youth Policy Toolkit)
The same OECD policy evidence points to a gap between consultation and sustained influence. Only 26% of surveyed youth organisations were satisfied with government performance on youth participation in public life in 2019. Although 92% of entities responsible for youth affairs had informed or consulted young people during the previous 12 months, only 43% had engaged them throughout the policy cycle. The measures describe surveyed organisations and public entities, not all young people. (OECD, Pillar V – Trust of young people in government and public institutions, Youth Policy Toolkit)
Young people in national parliaments
Representation is a separate measure from turnout: it records who holds legislative office, not how many people vote or participate in civic activities. Across OECD countries, only 23% of members of parliament were under 40 in 2022, and only 7% of cabinet members were under 40. (OECD, Enhancing Representation, Participation and Openness in Public Life)
The IPU’s global dataset, current to 15 June 2023, covered 204 chambers in 155 countries. It found that 2.8% of parliamentarians were aged 30 or under, 18.8% were aged 40 or under and 32.1% were aged 45 or under. Compared with the IPU’s 2021 report, the global shares rose by 0.2 percentage points for MPs aged 30 or under, 1.3 points for those aged 40 or under and 1.9 points for those aged 45 or under. (IPU, Youth participation in national parliaments: 2023)
| IPU age threshold | Share of parliamentarians | Change from 2021 report |
|---|---|---|
| Aged 30 or under | 2.8% | +0.2 percentage points |
| Aged 40 or under | 18.8% | +1.3 percentage points |
| Aged 45 or under | 32.1% | +1.9 percentage points |
These IPU figures are parliamentary composition measures. They should not be treated as youth turnout, youth population shares or forecasts. The OECD and EU figures elsewhere in this article are survey-based self-reports with different age bands, fieldwork periods and country coverage.
Chamber, gender and proportionality gaps
The parliamentary chamber matters. In the IPU’s 2023 data, MPs aged 30 or under made up 3.2% of single or lower chambers, compared with 0.5% of upper chambers. For the 40-or-under threshold, the corresponding figures were 21.3% and 6.3%; for the 45-or-under threshold, they were 35.8% and 13.3%.
The absence of very young MPs was also more common in upper chambers. Some 25.2% of single or lower chambers had no MP aged 30 or under, compared with 73.7% of upper chambers. Among MPs aged 21–30, the male-to-female ratio was approximately 60:40. (IPU, Youth participation in national parliaments: 2023)
The IPU’s benchmarks show how far representation remained from stated targets. No parliament had reached the IPU Forum of Young Parliamentarians’ 15% target for MPs aged 30 or under. Only 9.3% of chambers had reached the 35% target for MPs aged 40 or under, and 21.6% had reached the 45% target for MPs aged 45 or under. Gender-parity targets had been met by 28.4% of chambers for MPs aged 30 or under and 23.5% for MPs aged 40 or under. (IPU, Youth participation in national parliaments: 2023)
Countries with higher youth representation
In the IPU comparison of single or lower chambers, no chamber had achieved proportionality for MPs aged 30 or under when compared with the voting-age population in that age bracket. Five chambers had reached or exceeded proportionality for MPs aged 40 or under: Ukraine, Armenia, the Netherlands, Andorra and Latvia. (IPU, Youth participation in national parliaments: 2023)
Norway had the highest share of MPs aged 30 or under in a single or lower chamber, at 13.6%. Armenia had the highest share aged 40 or under, at 52.3%, while Ethiopia had the highest share aged 45 or under, at 71.1%. Other high shares included Ukraine, where 7.1% of MPs were aged 30 or under, 46.3% were aged 40 or under and 63.4% were aged 45 or under. Bolivia recorded 42.3% aged 40 or under and 60.0% aged 45 or under; Colombia recorded 41.6% and 63.5%, respectively. (IPU, Youth participation in national parliaments: 2023)
Recent elections can change the age profile quickly. After Thailand’s 14 May 2023 general election, the share of MPs aged 45 or under increased by 15.6 percentage points, the share aged 40 or under increased by 12.6 points and the share aged 30 or under increased by 4.0 points. By contrast, the IPU comparison of parliamentary renewals found that Serbia’s share of MPs aged 30 or under fell by 7.2 percentage points between September 2020 and June 2023. These are reported changes in parliamentary composition, not forecasts of future participation. (IPU, Youth participation in national parliaments: 2023)